


The Ides of July

by justkeepdreaming



Series: Metamorphosis Series [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers Tower, Canon Compliant, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, F/M, Marvel Universe, Post-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-09-28 02:07:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 59
Words: 58,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17173811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justkeepdreaming/pseuds/justkeepdreaming
Summary: The world has changed. After aliens invaded New York City and superhumans continue to emerge from the woodwork, society has been forced to accept that which it does not know or understand.Anna, a young freelance journalist, witnesses these changes first hand as she travels the world, always observing yet never participating in events which continually shape the future.Now, after watching an Avenger murder a seemingly innocent man before her very eyes, she's thrust into action. Narrowly escaping death with Loki, the God of Mischief, Anna finds herself at a crossroads.How do you fight that which you do not understand?





	1. Prelude

**I NEVER MEANT**  for any of this to happen. 

I never meant to get involved with the Avengers. 

I never meant to fall in love. 

 

**_< ><><><><><> Flash Forward <><><><><><>_ **

 

_"Please...please wake up," I press my lips against his, praying for something - anything - to happen and bring him back to me. Without him, I'm lost._

_Tears roll down my cheeks, mixing with the blood stained there to leave a swirl of red on my pale skin. My fingers shake as they move down his torso, landing on the wound leaking blood out of his side. I push against it, hating every second of the feeling of his thick blood escaping his body as it continues to take him away from me, and say a prayer._

_"You can't leave," I dip my head, inhaling his scent - reminiscent of fresh snow mixed with a hint of spice  - and resting my forehead against the hollow at the base of his neck. My voice cracks as I weep, the fragments of my already shattered heart aching within my chest. I think of his vow to me, swearing to protect me and keep me from harm, and I can't help but notice how his absence hurts more than anything they could've done to torture me._

_"You promised. You promised you'd keep me safe. This isn't safe. This isn't..."_

 


	2. Welcome to Istanbul

**ANNA ROMAN**  woke with a start. Sitting up like a rocket, she pushes her palm against her forehead only to discover it is sticky with sweat. The cool skin of her hand feels like ice against her face, and she exhales as she wipes a glob of thick brown hair out of her eyes.

Humidity hates her.

She reaches around underneath her squished pillow for her cell phone, clutching blindly in the dark, until she snags it and detaches it from the power cable before bringing it in front of her.

4:19AM.

The  _fajr_  prayer call blasts through the city of Istanbul, a melting of voices from various mosques calling out for the first  _salah_ , or prayer, of the day. Anna is no stranger to these interruptions. At 28 years old, she's traveled around the world more than her fair share, but she slept fitfully the night before and was startled from dark dreams by the loud yet strangely soothing sound of voices uniting together in prayer in the early hours of the morning.

With a groan, she swings her legs out of bed and relishes the feeling of the cool wood floors beneath her toes as she stumbles in the darkness across the small hotel room to the bathroom. She doesn't bother flicking on the light but splashes her face with cold tap water in a futile attempt to lower her body temperature. It's nearly 78 degrees already, hot even by the standards of Istanbul, but she's used to the relatively crisp 68 degree July weather of her native London. That, and the hotel's air conditioning seemed to have failed the day of her arrival and had yet to be fixed.

Glorious.

After she dries her face on a towel, Anna combs her hands through her wavy brown hair to pull it up in a ponytail at the crown of her head, smoothing out any bumps with her adept fingers without the aid of a mirror. A few minutes later, she's traded her faded black Queen concert t-shirt - now drenched in sweat from a night of tossing and turning - for cropped black running leggings inset with mesh panels along with a loose cotton t-shirt. She digs into her open suitcase in the darkness and pulls out her sneakers one by one, slipping them on and adjusting the laces snuggly.

Before long, she's running steadily along the streets of Istanbul with her hotel key tucked securely in the hidden pocket of her leggings. After heading north up the street, she dodges through the sluggish morning traffic and into Taksim Square before redirecting northeast toward Maçka Park.

The sun will soon peek over the horizon to her right, and the burnt orange glow already begins its slow creep outward in muted tendrils to conquer the dark sky as she makes her way through the ancient city that served as capital to so many empires. It's not long before she's reached Maçka and is running along its unpaved path, mentally clocking her heart rate and pushing herself faster in the midst of the greenery.

Always running without headphones, Anna listens to the sounds of the city gradually coming to life outside this oasis of trees in the heart of one of the most diverse and engaging cities in the world. She's traveled to Istanbul many times - run in this very park often - and it never gets old. The city where east meets west, straddling both Europe and Asia, in an exotic and bustling blend of old and new.

By the time she finishes her last lap, the sunrise has erupted over the horizon to flood the sky with brilliant colors. Flaming orange sets the city aglow, and Anna smiles to herself as she comes to a stop at the southeastern tip of the park with her hands on her knees as she catches her breath. The familiar flood of endorphins pumping through her veins erases any of her exhaustion from the previous night of sleep - or lack thereof - and she checks her watch before heading out of the park and back to her hotel near Taksim Square.

She's addicted to it and she knows it, the surge of adrenaline from a long run, just like she's addicted to her fast-paced, low-paying job. No one ever said being a journalist was going to be easy (or lucrative, for that matter), but she loved the thrill. After a mundane childhood in Norwich, England - aka, one of the safest cities in the UK - she needed something else.

Something different.

Her parents are retired schoolteachers, and they'd since moved from their quaint house on Earlham Road in Norwich for a retirement living apartment just outside the beach town of Cromer. Anna was their only child, and she'd long since moved away from home for university and a series of jobs in London.

Anna loved everything about her childhood. Norwich was filled with parks and shops, and the historic city had just enough bustle to keep things interesting for a quiet teenage girl. The University of East Anglia provided ample specimens for her to analyze whilst people-watching, with over 15,000 students flooding the city each year, so she never lacked a new subject. She'd invent stories for all of them, intricate tales of family rivalries and romantic triangles, and wrote all of them down in one of her countless journals.

Basically, she was an observer from day one.

As she runs down the street in Istanbul, her feet pounding the pavement in a comforting rhythm as she absorbs the sights and sounds of one of her favorite cities, what Anna doesn't notice is the man on a motorcycle observing her.

 


	3. Followed

**THE MAN**  on the motorcycle flips up his visor to reach his ear and presses to activate the microphone on the earpiece.

"Eyes on target," he confirms, knocking his visor shut and making a quick turn up the street behind the girl running down the streets of Istanbul.

Traffic is relatively light as the city comes to life, and he takes advantage of the lack of congestion to analyze the brunette jogging up the street. Her hair is swept back in a messy ponytail away from her face, which is flushed and glowing with sweat, and she runs with confidence. Judging by the fact that she doesn't appear to have a mobile phone and seems to navigate the twisted streets with ease, he's guessing that she's been to Istanbul before.

He pulls in the clutch and releases the throttle to slow his motorcycle to a lazy crawl as he follows her down a one-way street. Careful to avoid making too much noise, he allows her to slip around a corner before inching his way forward. She jogs ahead of him up the next street, slowing to a walk outside the Taksim Metropark Hotel, then glances over her shoulder toward the bustling Taksim Square before walking through the hotel door.

Dropping his feet to the ground, he reaches up to remove his helmet then presses the earpiece.

"She's inside. Did you plant the tracker?"

His voice is low, and he keeps his eyes trained on the hotel entrance. The girl should be reaching her room now, meaning he's got a bit of waiting to do before she resurfaces. He nods as the voice coming through the earpiece responds, his thin smile reaching his brown eyes.

"Good," he says. "Rendezvous at 0800 hours."

*****  
 **Anna**

Later that morning, Anna emerges from the hotel bathroom freshly showered with a towel wrapped around herself. The blistering heat of the morning billows through the open window on the other side of the room, and she smiles wryly as she observes that her shower was probably a waste of water.

"I'll be covered in sweat in ten minutes anyway," she mumbles to herself.

She lifts her suitcase and deposits it on the rumpled bedsheets, selecting a simple white button-down and a pair of skinny green khaki cargo pants. While it's not exactly her go-to attire for traveling in 85 degree weather, she knows the danger of showing too much skin in a Middle Eastern country - even if Turkey is less conservative than some of its neighbors. Her pale ivory skin draws enough attention as is, something she wants to avoid, so she'll have to cover as much of it as possible.

Luckily, she doesn't need cover herself in an abaya - a traditional loose over-garment that covers everything but the face, hands, and feet - like she did in Saudi Arabia, so she takes this outfit as more of a blessing than a curse.

Once she's dressed, Anna dries her mess of brown hair into its natural waves that are cropped at her shoulders. She doesn't wear any makeup other than a spot of concealer - her thick eyebrows and dark eyelashes take care of that for her. Well, that and she'd sweat it off anyway.

She pockets her cell phone along with enough Turkish lira to pay for cab fare, breakfast at the cafe where she's meeting her informant, and any incidentals that might pop up. Her passport is carefully secured inside a button-closed pocket on the outside of her right thigh. She rarely keeps the original on her person whilst traveling, but experience has taught her that sometimes her high-value informants like to see valid identification before speaking to a foreign journalist.

An alarm goes off on her phone, vibrating loudly in her pocket.

"Shit," she mutters, turning off the phone and snagging her hotel key before rushing from the room.

Anna prefers to travel light, opting to carry only what is absolutely necessary in her pockets, and rarely carries a bag. Even now as she rushes to the hotel lobby to call a cab, she's armed only with her cell phone. Thanks to technology, she can record her interview and take notes without having to lug around a tape recorder and a notebook.

Passing the front desk, she smiles at the man standing behind the counter in his uniform of an ornate green and gold vest over a white long-sleeve shirt. His thick black hair is cropped close to his scalp, probably to keep him cool in the hot Turkish summers. He smiles, his bright white teeth contrasting with his olive skin.

"Can I help you miss?" he asks.

"No, thank you," Anna tells him, pulling out her cell phone and opening the BiTaksi app to call a taxi from outside the hotel's entrance.

The man nods, and she gives him a polite smile before exiting the hotel. Her taxi is just around the corner, so it's only a few brief moments until the man pulls up in front of her on the street.

"Magnaura Restaurant," she tells the taxi driver. "Akbiyik Street."


	4. Exposed

**LESS THAN** twenty minutes later, Anna steps out of the cab and hands the driver twenty lira. She waves away the change and turns to look up at the restaurant.

She's meeting with a Syrian refugee going by the name Rifat after connecting with him via Twitter following the escalation of the Syrian conflict over the last few months. Rifat was a general in the Syrian army, and he is one of 85 who soldiers who defected to Turkey at the beginning of the month. Bashaar al-Assad's forces downed a Turkish military fighter jet in the previous weeks, and her contact claimed to have intelligence on the state of al-Assad's regime.

Entering the restaurant, Anna climbs the stairs to the upper terrace and spots a middle-aged man nodding her over.

"Rifat?"

He nods again, gesturing for her to sit. A waiter quickly follows, and Rifat orders two Turkish coffees for them. The waiter hurries away, only to return quickly with two tiny cups of the rich black liquid and a dish of sugar cubes, which Rifat offers her.

" _Az şekerli,"_ she tells him, meaning 'little sugar', and he drops a single sugar cube in her coffee for her. She smiles, letting the sugar dissolve.

"Thank you for meeting with me," Rifat tells her in accented English. His voice is deep and rough, and the discerning look in his weathered eyes tells her that he is incredibly intelligent. After all, he was a well-respected general in the Syrian army before he defected due to his opposition to al-Assad's regime. She had to give him credit for risking his life for the chance to disassociate himself from the horrors occurring there.

"Of course," Anna says reassuringly. "I hope you don't mind if I record our conversation, for my notes only."

He nods, so she slides her phone out of her pocket and opens the voice recording app before placing it flat on the table. Rifat watches her every move like a hawk, so she gives him another smile before using her index finger to hit "record."

In that instant, she notices a shining glare outside the window like a mixture of heat haze and the sun reflecting of a metal surface. Her body reacts before her mind follows, grabbing Rifat across the table and pulling him to the floor as the sound of bullets cracks into their now-empty seats.

She stares blankly at the white chair she occupied seconds earlier, unable to process the fact that the cotton cover is now riddled with bullet holes. Rifat, however, is already moving across the floor toward the stairs away from the edge of the terrace while screams erupt around them. Reaching up to grab her phone off the table, she turns to see him rushing down the stairs.

A mechanical whirring fills her ears behind her, and Anna looks over her shoulder to see a man in a red metal suit hovering in the air beyond the balcony scanning the cowering and panicked restaurant patrons. Anna glances back at her seat then meets the metal man's gaze as he sees her. Adrenaline courses through her veins as she throws her body onto her feet and breaks for the stairs, leaping down half the flight in a single bound before bursting through the door and onto the street. Glancing up at the man in the sky, she whips her head the opposite direction down the street to see Rifat's huddled figure pushing through the chaos only to crumple with a single shot to the back of his head.

"No!" Anna cries out as strong arms wrap around her and pull her back toward the door of the restaurant.

She takes one final look at the man in the sky before crashing through the restaurant. A man in a black leather jacket has his hand tightly grasped to her forearm, dragging her away from the street and through the mess of tables toward the kitchen. Nearly colliding with a member of the staff and knocking over a table of half-eaten food, Anna struggles to keep up with him as they burst through the kitchen and past the startled workers.

"Hurry," the man shouts, glancing back at her.

Any second, she's expecting to fall to the ground with a bullet in her head like Rifat, but she uses her sheer terror as fuel to push her legs to move even faster. The two of them slam into the back door of the restaurant and out into the back street, and Anna follows the man as he leads her around the corner to a black motorcycle parked there.

"Get on," he tells her, tossing her the slick black helmet with a solid black visor, as he swings a leg over the bike.

She can still hear shouting on the streets, madness and fear permeating the air, and her heart is slamming against her chest as she glances over her shoulder at the restaurant. The motorcycle roars to life in front of her, and she whirls around to face the man who probably just saved her life before jerking the helmet over her head and climbing onto the motorcycle behind him.

"Go!" 


	5. Panic

**"STOP! PLEASE...** please," Anna shouts over the roar of the motorcycle engine zipping through Istanbul's busy morning traffic. "I need to stop!"

It feels like hours have passed instead of minutes, and her head is spinning as the man in the black leather jacket turns the motorcycle up a side street and slows to a halt. Tugging the helmet off her face, Anna stumbles off the bike - nearly knocking it over - and collapses against a building on the sidewalk.

The motorcycle growls before sputtering out, and Anna is left alone with a deafening sound in her ears. Midday traffic hums on the main road, but she can hear nothing beyond the ringing in her ears. The sound of bullets firing at close range. A body tumbling to the ground. She sees it over and over again - unable to move, think, or cry - her blue eyes wide as her brain replays Rifat's death without ceasing.

"Are you okay?"

She doesn't register the words coming from his mouth until he's crouched down next to her, repeating them softly.

"He's...he's..." she stutters, unblinking.

From what little she knew of Rifat, he seemed to be an honorable man. Not only did he defect from an army that would later be known for committing crimes against humanity, risking his life in order to protect his conscience, he had a wife and two small children. Anna didn't even know their names; she had no way to contact them other than his Twitter handle and the encrypted email address he'd contacted her with after seeing one of her pieces on the Syrian conflict.

The warm Turkish midday sun burned on her skin, but she shivers as the man next to her places his hand on her shoulder.

"Is he...dead?" Her voice cracks as she speaks the last word, as if her vocal cords are unwilling to project what her mind is unable to process.

"I..." the man inhales. "Yes, he's dead."

Anna buries her face in her hands, pressing her palms against her eyes as if trying to push the truth from her memory. She remembers grabbing Rifat from across the table and pulling him to the ground before the first spray of bullets, and the memory that the hands against her face are those that touched him last causes her to jerk them away in horror. It's as if his blood trickles between her fingers, pooling in the crevices and cracks in her palm, the ghost of its metallic scent wafting up through her nose.

"We need to move," says the man in the leather jacket.

"Move?" Anna asks. "We...I...no. I need to go back. I need to find Rifat. I need to tell his family. I need..."

"Stop it," he says, shaking her shoulder roughly. "Now is not the time. You go back, you die. You stay here, you die."

Her skin is ashen, and the man can see her body beginning to shake as the adrenaline drains from her system only to be replaced by shock. She'll be nearly catatonic soon, meaning any attempts to reason with her or move her will be in vain.

"Hey, look at me."

Anna stares blankly at her hands, then back at his face before she registers that he has spoken.

"What?"

"You're going to be okay," he says gruffly, clearly trying to expedite the process of finding both of them a safe place for cover.

"But...I..." she mumbles, blinking slowly.

He glances down the street before turning back to her, now gripping both of her shoulders tightly with a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey, we need to go. We need to get to safety," he tells her. "We can't stay here on the street like this. It's too dangerous."

She nods once, following his gaze as he glances up at the sky. A helicopter flies overhead, and she flinches before realizing it's not a man in a red metal suit.

"Iron Man," she whispers. "Why? Why did he..."

The man squeezes her shoulders again, jerking her slightly to pull her attention back to him.

"Please," his voice is thick with urgency. "Not now."

She turns to face him, gradually noting his dark, wavy hair, olive skin, and clear brown eyes, and registering that she has no idea who this man is across from her.

"Okay."


	6. Welcome to Restitution

**THE SIGHTS** , sounds, and smells of Istanbul blur to Anna. No longer entranced by this city she so passionately admired, she is repulsed by it and what memories it holds. One memory, in particular.

It's only been an hour and a half since it happened, but Anna feels as if she's been weighed down by the memory for a lifetime. With her arms loosely wrapped around the man driving the motorcycle, she lets her head rest against his back. He stiffens for a moment, only to relax a second later, but Anna doesn't notice. She's staring blankly out into the world, tinted dark by both the visor of her helmet and the memory of Rifat's murder.

Finally, the motorcycle slows to a stop outside of a large factory building. The parking lot is full of cars and empty of people, meaning everyone is still busy working inside. Every person is still going about his or her business - working, eating, living - leaving Anna with the sole burden of a man's death. Of course, no one here will be affected by the news. No one here will even know about it, let alone be expected to mourn for a man few in this city knew existed.

"Where are we?" she asks, her voice soft.

She releases her grip from the man, leaning back, and pulls off the helmet. Her throat is dry from the dust of their trip, and emotion is still caught deep in it. Sliding off the bike, she clutches the helmet tightly against her stomach.

"Nişantepe," the man replies without looking at her.

He dismounts from the bike and lifts the seat storage to reveal a small black bag tied with a drawstring. Checking its contents, he closes the storage compartment and reaches a hand to Anna. She stares at him for a moment, watching his outstretched palm, then glances back at his face.

"The helmet," he says with a smirk.

"Oh, of course," she replies, passing the helmet to him, her cheeks flushed. "Sorry."

Once the helmet is locked to the bike, he circles it and walks toward Anna. With one hand holding the drawstring bag, he reaches out with his other and tugs her elbow along with him in the direction of the building.

"Are we going inside?"

He nods. She stares up at the building, barely paying attention to her feet as she follows him toward an unmarked metal door. He opens it with a tug, and she's ushered into the factory floor. Her eyes take a moment to adjust to the relatively dim indoor lighting, and she jumps as the heavy door bangs shut behind her.

"Sorry," the man tells her, noting her jitters. "This way."

Anna follows him through the factory floor as they weave their way through production lines. Machinery whirs loudly, a steady thrumming pervading every inch of the building, with the occasional voice cutting through the static. Whatever they are working on isn't something she recognizes, so she stops studying the machinery and focuses on avoiding any potential collisions. After all, her mind can only process one thing at a time right now.

They cross to the other side of the factory where the air is significantly cooler. Anna shivers, the sweat drenching her shirt turning ice cold, and wraps her arms around her chest. Her arms shake ever-so-slightly as she clings to herself as if attempting to hold herself together. In front of her, the man guiding her presses a button to call the elevator, and they step inside a few seconds later.

The doors creak as they slide together, metal against metal, and he presses the number two. Instead of letting go of the button, he holds his thumb against it until the lights in the elevator flicker out only to be replaced instantly by an eerie red glow.

"What's happening?" Anna asks him, digging her nails into her biceps. "Where are we?"

He smirks, "Sorry for the cloak and dagger. Bit clichéd, if you ask me."

"That doesn't answer my question," she replies in a failed attempt to keep her voice level.

She lurches forward as the elevator jerks, tumbling against the wall. The man reaches forward to grasp her by the arm, steadying her, as the elevator doors grind against the platform while they open. A man in a crisp, tailored black suit stands across from them, his cold brown eyes trained precisely on Anna as she returns to her feet.

He smiles, "Welcome to Restitution."


	7. No One Man

**ANNA TURNS BACK**  to face the man in the leather jacket, who releases her arms and strides confidently from the elevator. She watches him walk, briefly considering jamming her thumb against the button to close the doors and take her away - away from here and from everything in her head - and back to her own bed. Instead, she turns to face the man in the suit, trying to inject confidence in her voice as she steps out of the elevator.

"What is Restitution?"

The man lifts an eyebrow, his brown eyes glinting with something she can't quite read, "Well, the dictionary defines restitution as the restor--"

"I know what it means," she interrupts. "Why am I here?"

"That's a wonderful question," he replies. "I, for one, am not equipped to answer it. My colleague acted of his own volition in bringing you here. I'm not quite privy to his motives myself at the moment."

The man in the leather jacket has returned, and he hands Anna a bottle of water which she stares at warily before accepting it.

"She needs our protection," he tells the man in the suit matter-of-factly.

"From..." the man in the suit replies, clearly unamused.

Anna takes a deep breath, "Iron Man. Tony Stark."

The brown haired man in the suit turns his head slowly to face her, and a look of annoyance is quickly replaced by amusement.

"Iron Man," he repeats. "Bullshit."

The man in the leather jacket reaches into his pocket and reveals a cell phone, which he hands to the other man. After a few seconds, Anna can hear the sounds of Istanbul's Sultanahmet district through the tiny speakers of the phone along with her own shouts of horror. Her mind replays the incident again, matching the sounds of the video with the horrific images scarred into her brain, and she feels sick.

"Hmph," the man in the suit hands the phone back, then steps forward to extend a hand to Anna. "My apologies, I didn't mean to be rude. My name is Magnus."

She takes his hand lightly, expecting a firm handshake, but instead he pulls her toward him and spins her around. In a deft movement, he transfers her hand to his left hand and drapes his right arm over her shoulder, squeezing her shoulders reassuringly.

"I understand you've been through quite the ordeal, my dear, and you mustn't worry," he tells her. "You are certainly safe and very welcome here."

She looks up at Magnus, then back at the man in the leather jacket. His hands are tucked into his pockets as he watches her, his thick black hair waving away from his forehead, and his lips pressed tightly together. A tattoo peeks out from the collar of his shirt on the side of his neck, the black ink swirling against his tanned olive skin. He meets her eyes and nods before turning away and disappearing down the opposite end of the hallway.

Turning her attention back to Magnus, she allows her shoulders to relax. Her heartbeat is racing, and she's certain he can feel it pressing through her palm into his. If he does, he says nothing about it, but continues chattering away about her safety as he leads her down the stark white hallway.

"Tell me," he says, squeezing her hand, "What were you doing when it happened? When Iron Man attacked?"

"I..." Anna stutters, "I was meeting a source. He, um...I'm a journalist. He..."

Her voice trails, and the man tightens his grip on her shoulder.

"It's okay, you're safe," Magnus replies. "That bastard can't hurt you here."

Anna looks up at him, and she sees the fire in his deep chocolate brown eyes. His arm feels heavy around her shoulder, like a thick wool blanket protecting her from the elements in the midst of a cruel blizzard, and she believes him. What she doesn't believe, however, is how or why this could've happened in the first place.

"But...but...why," she mutters, surprising herself by saying it out loud. "Iron Man, he's good. I thought he was good. Rifat - the man who was killed - he was a decent man. He didn't...I don't..." 

Magnus freezes, roughly turning Anna to face him with his hands in a vice grip on her upper arms. She feels the absence of his arm on the back of her neck, the cold air causing the hair on her skin to stand on end, and looks into his eyes. The fire is still there, but now it's blazing hot with anger.

"Iron Man," he spits out, "has far too much power. Unchecked, he's like a disease run rampant, destroying everything in its path. He is not  _good_. He is a plague on humanity and a danger to us all. No one man should have all of that power."

"I thought..." Anna replies, her eyes clouded with confusion. She blinks back tears, her head throbbing and her arms aching from Magnus' strong grip, as he shakes her.

"You thought wrong," Magnus interrupts, his voice sharp as a dagger to the chest. "He tried to kill you, and he won't stop murdering until someone stops him. Until  **we**  stop him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Impatiently waiting for Loki? Don't worry. He's coming soon!
> 
> x


	8. Honesty

**THE BRUNETTE** massages her arms where Magnus gripped them tightly. He deposited her in a sort of infirmary, where a single nurse bustles to activity and the bright white walls reek of disinfectant. The nurse says nothing as she works, despite Anna's protestations that - beyond a headache - nothing physically was the matter, leaving her resigned to sit on the straight-backed plastic chair in silence. Alone with her thoughts, her head continues to pound as it replayed the events of the morning in gruesome detail.

Why was Rifat murdered? Why did Iron Man do it? Was Anna in danger of the same fate? Worse still, was Rifat's death her fault?

She rubs her temples only to have her hand swatted away by the nurse. She finishes taking her notes on Anna's condition, or lack thereof, and hands her two small pills along with a plastic cup of water.

"What's this?" Anna asks, accepting the nurse's offering with a confused look.

"For the pain," the nurse says with a subtle French accent. "It will help."

Anna nods, placing the pills on her tongue, and swallowing a bit of water. The cool liquid rushes down her throat, hitting the rawness and emotion, and pushes past it to clear her throat. She inhales deeply while praying the lump in her throat will clear soon as well.

The door to the infirmary opens, and the man in the black leather jacket enters the room. He smiles at the nurse, who gives him a coy nod before disappearing into the back room.

"How are you feeling?"

Anna grimaces, "I...um...bad."

He frowns, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and sits in the plastic chair next to her. Leaning his head against the wall, he exhales, and Anna takes the opportunity to study the stranger's face. His jaw is sharp and square, and she can see the muscles moving under his skin as he contemplates his next words. Large, dark eyes are set beneath solid black eyebrows. A single broad scar disfigures the side of his face near his hairline, the small patch of lighter skin disappearing into his thick black hair.

"I'd say that it gets easier, but that would be a lie," he tells her. "I don't think it would help."

"I appreciate the honesty," Anna replies. After a pause, she continues, "Thank you."

"For what?"

She shrugs, "Saving my life? You...you don't even know me."

"Well, we can remedy that," he says. "What's your name?"

"Anna."

"Anna," he repeats slowly as if committing it to memory. Her name sounds foreign on his tongue, his faint accent tugging at the sounds of the letters. "My name is Eren."

They both fall silent, and Anna can hear the buzzing of the lights in the ceiling. The man lifts his head, pulling his hands from his jacket, and hands her a small, unmarked envelope. The thin white paper is slightly wrinkled and the flap open.

"What's this?" she asks.

"Honesty," he replies.

She slips two fingers in the envelope revealing a glossy stack of photographs. The first photo shows the frail body of a young child, pink shoelaces peaking out from underneath a bloody mess of fabric. She grimaces, glancing at the man, then flips to the next photo. A man clutches the body of another young man, his hands soaked in the dark red blood of the body in his arms. Third is a family laid out in the dust - mother, father, young son, and an infant - all riddled with the same dark stains.

Her breath catches in her chest as she flips through the rest of the photographs, tears welling in her eyes, until she lands on the last photo of two smiling girls. Their faces are familiar, framed with dark hair, and each is sporting a brightly colored t-shirt as they look at the camera.

"Kalila and Miriam," the man next to her says in a low voice. "The man you met...they are his daughters."

Anna runs a thumb over their faces, tears falling freely down her face.

"Do they know? About..." her voice trails, overcome with emotion.

He inhales sharply, "They're dead." 


	9. What Do I Do?

**"I DON'T KNOW**  what you were thinking, bringing her here," Magnus says, pacing the far side of the room.

The entire wall is covered with a grid of frameless LED panels displaying a crystal-clear live feed of the New York City skyline. It's dark, so Eren can only see Magnus' silhouette as his body blocks the view of the sparkling city lights.

"She's an asset," Eren tells him again, trying not to roll his eyes. "She can be useful to our organization."

Magnus scoffs, "Useful? To what end? Writing a scathing article in the Telegraph?"

Dim lights fade on, illuminating the two men in the minimally decorated room. The three walls not covered with LED panels are unblemished, and the only furniture in the room besides a modern desk is a single black leather sofa, a lamp, and a small wet bar. A delicate tinkle of glass echoes across the room as Magnus opens a decanter of whiskey and pours himself two fingers worth of the amber liquid in an elegant crystal tumbler before savoring his first sip.

Eren leans forward from his seat on the sofa, studying Magnus carefully, "What other options do we have? What success have you had in eliminating the threat of attack? Surely other members of the organization are not satisfied with your progress, or lack thereof."

The other man freezes, his brown eyes turning to steel as he tightly grips the glass of whiskey. He uses his other hand to adjust the black silk tie around his neck without removing his gaze from Eren. Most men would wither under such a look, but Eren stares back at him unblinking.

"What do you propose?" Magnus asks.

A small smile curls up the edges of Eren's mouth, "We send her in."

*********

**Anna**

A deafening sound shakes Anna back into consciousness, and her eyelids flutter open. Startled, she tries to sit up as the sound returns again, banging into her eardrums while she attempts to blink away the fog clouding her senses. She's sitting up in a small bed with a thin white comforter draped over her lap, and a faint waft of vanilla and spice hits her nose. She's no longer in the infirmary, she realizes, and her heartbeat jumps in her throat as her eyes widen in the dark.

The door opens slowly, a small crack of light illuminating the room so Anna can see a tiny wardrobe, an upholstered red armchair, and a bookshelf covered in titles indistinguishable from her perch on the bed. Another round of rumbling turns her head back to the door, where she realizes it's Eren knocking gently against the wood. Her shoulders relax an inch, and she exhales slowly.

"May I?" He asks, gesturing toward the armchair.

She nods, and he opens the door further to allow himself entry. He flicks on a table lamp resting on top of the bookshelf before sitting down, and the room is flooded with a warm yellow glow.

"What happened?"

Eren grimaces, "You fainted."

"What?!" Anna replies, her cheeks flaming red hot with embarrassment. "I...I haven't..."

"It's fine," Eren reassures her. "I shouldn't have shown you those photographs. You, well...you blacked out and hit your head."

That explains the splitting headache and the brain fog, at least, but Anna still can't believe that she fainted. It isn't exactly a typical occurrence for a healthy young female to up and tumble over, unless you're a high born lady in a historical romance novel which she is most definitely not. She runs her hands through her hair, brushing a thick brown wave away from her eyes, and shakes her head. Tears begin to well up behind her eyelids, and she blinks them away, wiping her finger under each eye to prevent any stragglers from creeping out.

"Are you..." Eren starts to say, sitting forward in the chair and leaning toward her. His face is marked with concern, and his dark eyes are staring intently at her.

"I'm fine," she interrupts. "I mean, I'm not fine. Clearly, but...it's been a long day."

She refuses to let herself replay the image of Rifat's death again, instead forcing herself to meticulously examine the edge of the comforter covering her. A single threat sticks out from the seam, so she tugs on it, wrapping it around her index finger twice before it slips off and unwinds. 

"I understand," Eren replies. "If you'd like me to leave--"

"No," Anna says quickly, looking up at him. "Don't leave. I need...I could use someone to talk to."

Eren studies her face for a moment, and she returns her eyes to the loose thread on the comforter. After a few moments of silence, she notices he has leaned back in the armchair, eyes closed tight, as if debating something internally. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and meets her own, black against blue.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," he tells her, causing a lump to form in her throat. "I want to tell you that you'll be safe now, that we can keep you safe, but we don't know for certain."

"What do you mean? I don't understand any of this," she replies. "Rifat, he was a good man. His daughters. What have we done that...why is this..."

Her voice trails, and Eren stands, pacing slowly in front of the lamp. His tall, muscular frame blocks the light, causing shadows to dance across the room. He exhales, then turns toward her.

"We don't know. Anything," he replies. "I'm sorry, but we haven't a clue."

Anna bites her lip, "Then what do we do? What do I do?"

He stops pacing and runs a hand over his face, his forehead creased with worry.

"There's one possibility, but it's dangerous. If it were to go wrong--"

"Tell me," Anna interrupts, her fingers clenched tightly in a white-knuckle grip around the edge of the comforter. "Now."

"We send you to New York," he says slowly. "To Stark Tower. To Iron Man." 


	10. Under Pressure

**TONY STARK'S**  eyes fly open as he jerks himself upright, his body coated in a layer of sweat. The room is dark, and it takes his eyes a moment to adjust while he attempts to regain his bearings. Next to him, he lets his hand wander to the side of the bed normally occupied by Pepper Potts, his girlfriend extraordinaire, who is on a business trip in New York City.

Probably better if she isn't here to witness another restless night of non-stop nightmares. He'd already terrified her enough, and she certainly didn't deserve any of it.

He runs a hand through his dark hair, exhaling loudly.

"Jarvis, what time is it?" He asks, his voice strained.

"Good morning, sir," his artificially intelligent accomplice Jarvis replies on one of the house's many built-in speakers. "It's 4:52AM. Trouble sleeping again?"

"I'm not sure you can call it that, considering I haven't slept in three days," Tony replies. "What comes after 'insomniac'?"

"Perhaps I should call a doctor, sir," Jarvis suggests. "Miss Potts would not like--"

"No," Tony cuts him off. "No doctor, no Pepper. Nobody needs to know. I'll be fine in a few days."

Tony swears he can hear Jarvis sigh, but he chooses to ignore it.

"Very well, sir," Jarvis says.

Swinging his legs out of bed so his feet land on the cool hardwood floor, Tony takes a moment to rest his head in his hands. The nightmares were more or less the same as every other night, Tony flying through the wormhole and into the unknown where the entire Chitauri fleet awaits. His heart told him there was more to it, that the Chitauri were only the first, but no one else understood.

How could they? They hadn't seen what he saw through the wormhole. Tony knew they weren't ready to face whatever was out there. Hell, they'd barely survived the Chitauri. Thor's brother Loki, god of mischief that he is, did more than ravage Manhattan with the attack. He tore a hole into Tony Stark's psyche.

"Jarvis, lights please," Tony says, interrupting his train of thought while he stands. "And music."

Gentle recessed lighting fades on across the room as Tony grabs a fresh t-shirt from his drawer and pulls it over his head. He grabs yesterday's slacks from where he left them on the floor the night before, sticking his leg into them, as "Under Pressure" by Queen featuring David Bowie comes on throughout the house.

"Aren't you a funny one," he snarls at Jarvis, "Very subtle. Ha. Ha. Ha."

Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he slides it into his back pocket before exiting the room. The smart lights dim as he exits, and his path in the hallway is illuminated above him as he makes his way down to the kitchen. The floor is cool under his feet, and he can feel his body temperature begin to lower as he kicks himself into activity.

Ironically, keeping himself busy is the only way Tony can relax. The more time he has alone with his genius brain, the more time he has to (significantly) overthink everything. Ergo, less stopping, more going. More distractions.

He flings open a cabinet, retrieving a coffee cup and placing it under the coffee machine. Jabbing his forefinger against the LCD touchscreen, he selects "espresso" and waits for it to fill his cup. Once the machine kicks off - which it does when the cup is only a fifth of the way full - Tony grabs the cup and tosses back the espresso. He slides the cup back onto the machine, this time selecting "coffee" while he moves to the fridge and grabs himself a container of milk.

Usually, Pepper insists that Tony eats a "nutritious" breakfast - whatever the hell that means - but she's out of town, so he pours himself an ample serving of Lucky Charms and douses it with milk. Balancing his coffee in the crook of his arm, he begins shoveling it into his mouth as he heads out of the kitchen and downstairs to his workshop.

"Sir?" Jarvis' voice interrupts the music, which is now playing "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones. "Sir, there's something you should see."

Tony sighs, carefully depositing his coffee mug on the workbench as he plops down into his chair. He swivels toward the television on the wall, still eating his cereal, and kicks his feet up on the desk.

"Go ahead," he tells Jarvis.

The screen flickers to life, and news footage of a busy street flashes in front of his eyes. The news anchor is speaking in Turkish, and a spark of recognition in Tony's face causes his feet to drop to the floor as he shoves his cereal bowl onto the work table.

"Translate," Tony says abruptly to Jarvis, his brown eyes glued to the screen.

In an instant, the news woman's voice is replaced with an instantaneous English translation of her broadcast.

"...killed at a cafe in near Sultanahmet today in a random shooting by American billionaire Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man," the translation says dispassionately. "It has been discovered that the man was a Syrian general who defected from Bashar al-Assad's regime and took refuge in Turkey. Sources have yet to reveal why Iron Man targeted the refugee, who had no known ties to terrorism, and an official investigation has commenced."

The broadcast continues, replaying the same images of the busy street in Istanbul, but Tony no longer comprehends the translated words. His eyes gloss over as he stares at the screen, remembering the sights from where he was the day before, the same street he's seeing now cordoned off by crime scene tape.

Slowly, Tony inhales and runs a hand over his mouth.

"What the hell is happening, Jarvis?"

"It appears there's been a mistake, sir," Jarvis replies warily.


	11. New York

**ANNA WRINGS HER HANDS**  in her lap, nervously twisting and untwisting her fingers as the plane begins its descent into New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. She'd spent a large majority of her eleven hour flight in a state of mild panic, despite her general love of flying. The Airbus A330 was quiet and comfortable - most of the seats were full - and the fact that they were flying overnight meant that a majority of the passengers were attempting to catch some sleep.

Wedged into a window seat near the back of the plane, Anna watched the solid black expanse of the Atlantic Ocean for a bulk of the flight. There isn't much to see when you're flying over the ocean, at night, from a cruising altitude of 37,000 feet, but she kept her eyes directed out the window nonetheless. There was no point in trying to sleep either. She was completely aware of the fact that if her nerves didn't keep her up, her nightmares would. Instead, she tried to keep her mind blank, and - considering the state of her nerves - she definitely didn't succeed at doing so.

Once the plane was on the ground and at the gate, she could feel bile rising in her throat. The captain would turn off the seatbelt sign any moment, but every fiber in Anna's being told her it would be much better if she were to stay strapped into her seat until she could depart with the plane whenever and wherever it went next.

She inhales deeply, and at the tell-tale ding of the seatbelt sign, she unbuckles the strap around her waist and waits for the plane to begin deboarding. She's traveling light, still wearing her white button down shirt and green khaki skinny pants, as Magnus refused to let her return to her hotel room for her belongings. Eren promised to retrieve them for her, and she was sent to the airport with nothing but the sweat and dirt-covered clothes on her back, a few lira, and her passport. Magnus had arranged for her ticket to New York, as well as a driver to pick her up on arrival, but everything else is on her.

 _It's all on me_ , she realizes.

Eren gave her the photos of Iron Man's collected victims, including a police photograph of Rifat's body on the street outside the Magnaura Cafe and one of his murdered family, but she'd refused to look at them. Right now, it was enough to have them tucked inside an envelope in her pants' pocket, fueling her rage toward the billionaire named Tony Stark.

She clenches her fists tightly, then releases them as she stands from her seat and walks down the lit aisle to exit the aircraft. Nodding at the attendants and the captain as she departs, a look of indifference paints her features. It's the only expression she can muster to mask the hatred and pain growing inside of her, as her only alternative to sheer rage is to feel nothing at all.

*********   
**Tony**

"I'm fine, Pepper, I swe--," Tony insists, gripping his forehead as he talks to Pepper Potts in his office in Stark Tower.

"Really?" Pepper interrupts, "I don't see how you  _could_  be fine about this, Tony. It's madness. Not only is it all over the news, Stark Industries stock has plummeted. People are calling for your arrest."

She'd been in New York for a few days overseeing the reconstruction on the tower, which he was now leaning toward renaming Avengers Tower seeing as only the 'A' remained on the outside of the building. After news had broken about the innocent man's death in Istanbul, Tony had flown immediately to New York for answers. He had not, however, flown to New York to be chewed out by his girlfriend.

"Pepper, I get it, trust me," he snaps at her, slamming the glass of scotch he'd just poured down on the counter. "I screwed up. Moving on, we need to figure out  _how_  and  _why_ this is happening." 

She crosses her arms in front of her chest, glaring at him as he tosses back a drink of the scotch. He savours the sharp burn of liquor hitting his throat, grimacing as the fire travels down his chest and spreads outward.

"God, that's not a shooting drink," Tony says to himself, smacking his lips before pouring the rest of the glass down his throat.

"Tony," Pepper sighs impatiently.

She looks beautiful in her blue silk dress, her arms bare and her feet in a less-than-sensible pair of nude stilettos. Even with frustration, worry, and - let's face it - a little bit of anger etched across her face, he still thought she was the most beautiful creature on the planet. Why she stayed with a wreck like him, he'll never understand.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Tony replies, refilling his glass and pouring another for Pepper.

He carries them over to her, coaxing her arms to uncross by handing her a drink, then pulls at her elbow so she'll sit on the sofa with him.

"I don't want a drink, Tony," she tells him softly, her eyes glued on his face.

He grins, the smile ending well before his eyes, "We all need one. Some more than others."

Still, he places his drink on the coffee table in front of him, then Pepper's, before placing his forehead in his hands. She watches him carefully, and the anger dissipates as he groans in agony. Lifting a hand, she massages his shoulder gently.

"We'll figure it out," she reassures him. "I promise."

Tony doesn't move, choosing to keep his face buried in his hands. If she didn't know him better, she would've thought him asleep as she watches the gentle rise and fall of his shoulders with every breath.

"I killed a man, Pepper," Tony whispers, his voice cracking with emotion. "An innocent man."

A voice from across the room speaks up, making her presence known to the couple sitting on the couch.

"Yes, you did," Anna says firmly.


	12. Confrontation

**PEPPER LEAPS TO HER FEET**  at the sound of Anna's voice, while Tony's head snaps up from his hands to face the newcomer.

"Who are you?" Pepper demands. "How did you get in here?"

"Service elevator," Anna says, her fists tightly clenched by her sides.

She takes a small step toward them, hoping to avoid a proximity at which her nerves become evident, and wills her heartbeat to stop thudding heavily against her chest. Her eyes are locked on the woman with strawberry blonde hair standing next to Tony Stark, afraid to meet the eyes of the man who murdered Rifat, with her chin turned up ever-so-slightly in faux confidence.

"Damn," Tony mumbles, "I really need to get Happy to--"

"You can't be here," Pepper says, interrupting him. "You need to leave. Now."

Putting her drink on the table, Pepper crosses the room to the touchscreen mounted on the wall to call security. Anna watches her while her mind races as she scrambles to think of what to do next. She'd spent most of her flight either reminiscing over the events of the day or mentally preparing for her confrontation with Tony Stark, but no amount of practice could prepare her for reality.

"His name was Rifat," Anna says softly, unconsciously brushing the envelope of photographs in her pocket. "He had a family. Children. Two young girls."

"Are you trying to make me feel better, sweetheart?" Tony asks sarcastically. "If so, you're doing a bang-up job of it, really. Keep up the horrible work."

Anna takes another step toward him, turning her gaze from Pepper to lock eyes with the man who killed Rifat. The man who nearly killed her less than twenty-four hours ago. She can feel the color drain from her skin, her blue eyes shining bright in contrast with her already pale face, as she stares into his dark irises.

"They're dead," she replies, her voice cracking. "Murdered in their home."

Shock falls across Tony's face, and she can see the pain and frustration in his eyes turn to absolute despair. Pepper, who has finished calling security to the floor, gasps, frozen to the floor. Within seconds, security bursts into the room and two men in suits grab Anna by both arms.

"Do you recognize me?" Anna pleads as they pull her toward the elevator. "Look at me, do you recognize me?"

Tony's face is white with horror, unmoving, as his brain scrambles to process what this strange British woman has just told him. Security continues to pull her toward the elevator, but she reacts on pure instinct kicking the knee of one man and sending him to the floor while turning and jabbing the other in the throat. He falls against the wall, gasping for air, as she rushes toward Tony with her thick brown hair falling into her face and obscuring her features.

"I was there," Anna spits out vehemently, fear turning to rage in desperation. "I was with him. I was the one who pulled him to the ground on the terrace. You killed him, and you nearly killed me."

"Get her out of here," Pepper whispers, crossing the room to Tony. She places a hand on his shoulder, but he jerks his body away from her touch.

Anna cries out in pain as one of the recovered security officers grabs her arm from behind and twists it sharply, forcing her to pivot the open elevator doors.

"You're a monster," she says, tears springing from her eyes.

In a flash, Tony leaps to his feet and crosses the room in a few bounds, grabbing the girl's twisted arm from the surprised security officer and slamming her against the inside wall of the elevator. She yelps in pain, then snaps her head backward where it connects with Tony's nose with a loud crack. Losing his grip on her arm, he stumbles backward, hands catchng the warm stream of blood gushing from his nose. Anna whirls around, eyes wide at the damage she just inflicted.

"If you think that's what I am, princess," Tony snarls through his hands, "Then why the hell are you here?"

Anna stares at him, her shoulders heaving from effort and emotion, unable to find the words to respond. A security guard takes her by the arm, and she lets him drag her toward the elevator.

"I'm frightened," she says honestly, her voice no more than a hoarse whisper. "Am I next? Will you kill me next?"

Abruptly, Tony sticks his arm in front of the closing elevator door and positions himself in the door of the elevator, a safe distance from the young woman who just broke his nose. The fire in his brown eyes has dimmed to a simmer, and his thick eyebrows are knit together in confusion and frustration.

"Why...why would you think that?" He says, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Tears are rolling down Anna's face leaving trails in the dust still stuck on her skin from the streets of Istanbul. Her arm is screaming in pain from where the security guard has a vise-like grip on it, and she lifts her eyes to meet Tony Stark's.

"Why did you kill him?" Her voice is no more than a whimper while the anger in her eyes rages on still. "Why not me? Why am I still here?"

Tony pauses, "Let her go."

"Sir," the security guard says, confusion drawn on his features. "Are you--"

"Do it," Tony commands.

Pepper steps up behind him, her arms crossed tightly in front of her body as she speaks.

"Tony...."

He shakes his head, "Now."

The security guard drops Anna's arm, which she instantly brings in front of her chest and massages gently. Her skin is red from where he held her, and she cradles it carefully. She stares at Tony, blue eyes wide, and wipes the tears from her face. His intense gaze unsettles her, but she keeps her eyes leveled on him as both wait for the other to make the first move.

Tony breaks the silence.

"Who are you?"


	13. Help

**ANNA PERCHES**  rigidly on the edge of a black leather armchair across from Tony and Pepper, the former wearing a smirk across his face and the latter watching her with unguarded distrust. Tony's face now sports a blossoming bruise and black eye from his nose, which has been re-set, and he's nursing a glass of scotch under the guise of "medicinal purposes".

The room is empty. Pepper insisted on a member of the security team staying in the room with Anna, but Tony dismissed the notion immediately. While the woman may have broken his nose with surprisingly little effort, he could tell that she is just as surprised by that fact as he is.

"So you're a journalist," Tony concludes. "With a hell of a headbutt."

Anna's face flushes red as she twists her fingers together, picking at her cuticles nervously. She nods, afraid to speak more than absolutely necessary. Sitting across from these two is utterly nerve wracking, but she's stubborn enough to meet their intense stares with little hesitation. Except now, when Tony brought up the whole broken nose thing, which baffles her.

How she managed to escape not one, but two security guards, in order to physically assault  _Iron Man_  is beyond her grasp. It was like something in her snapped into overdrive, reacting purely on instinct, and directed her body in ways her mind never knew existed. At least, they didn't exist for Anna. Not until now.

Her muscles ached slightly from the encounter, like the feeling you get after the first time you ride a bicycle in years. They were sore, overly warm, and somehow ever-so-slightly stronger than before, even if she wasn't quite sure she could move properly yet. It was exhilarating, discovering a physical strength she never knew she had.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Pepper asks.

Anna shrugs, "Netflix?"

Tony snorts, and Pepper frowns.

"It was just...instinct, I guess," Anna replies. "I've always had good reflexes. I didn't really think about it. At all, really."

"Hmph," Tony studies her carefully, his brain making calculations. "And you are...twenty-two?"

"Twenty-eight," she replies. "Why does that matter?"

He stands, "It doesn't. I was just curious."

Crossing the room, Tony deposits his empty scotch glass on the bar. His eyes linger on the half-empty bottle, betraying his blatant desire to drain it and move on to another, but he flicks his eyes back to Pepper who watches him with a worried gaze. She's always looking at him like that, concerned about something or other, whether it's his behavior, the company, or his extracurricular activities. This time it's a little of Column A and a little of Column C.

"So, the thing I can't put my finger on is - forgive me if I'm being rude - why are you here?" Tony asks. "Why come to me? Don't get me wrong - I'm glad you're here even if my nose is not, but it isn't exactly a normal behavior for someone to track down whoever she believes is endangering her."

Anna looks up at him, her blue eyes clear. She tucks a thick brown wave of hair behind her ear and exhales only to have half of the hair slip out instantly. Ignorant of this fact, she looks down at her white knuckle grip on her fingers, then back up at Tony.

"I don't know," she tells him. "I didn't...I just...I went to the airport, got on a plane. I didn't even get my suitcase from my hotel - I already had my passport and my mobile with me."

"And how do you know about..." Tony's voice trails. "The girls. His daughters. How do you know about them?"

"After it happened, I-I didn't know what to do. I panicked," she replies, rubbing her thumb over the knuckles of her other hand. "Someone...I was followed. I didn't see a face...I could hardly speak, let alone absorb any information."

She reaches down to open the button pocket on the outside of her right thigh, revealing the white envelope of photos. The edges are worn from her fingers tracing during the flight, and her hand shakes as she lifts it up and holds it out for Tony.

"They gave me these," Anna says, her voice soft as her gaze rests on the envelope burning through her fingers.

Pepper watches Tony carefully as he moves toward the young woman and carefully takes the envelope from her. He slips a finger under the flap, lifting it, and extracts a small stack of photographs. His face goes white at the first one; by the second, he's frozen where he stands. Unable to move, he's clearly no longer looking at the photographs, not even bothering to flick through the rest of them.

"Tony?" Pepper asks gently.

She stands, tugging the photos from his grasp, and looks down at the top one. Inhaling sharply, the two photographs slip through her fingers and flutter to the floor.

"I didn't know what else to do," Anna tells them simply. "After what happened in the Middle East, and New York, I thought...I wanted answers. I'm a journalist. I wanted to know why they had to die."

Tony shakes his head, "I didn't do this. Istanbul - that was an accident. But this..."

"I'm sorry," Anna mumbles. "I shouldn't have come here."

She stands quickly, turning toward the elevator. Tony runs a hand through his hair, causing it to stand straight up, then groans.

"No, wait," he calls after her. "We both want answers. These photographs, whoever gave them to you is involved in this somehow. We need to find out how."

"We?" Anna asks, spinning around to face him. "I...I just watched someone die in front of me at your hands. I'm sorry, but it's difficult to process that fact."

"I understand that, and I don't want to make you feel unsafe," Tony replies. "But I need your help." **** ****


	14. Return

**"I DON'T UNDERSTAND**  why our presence is needed," Loki tells Thor, gently testing the bonds around his wrists as they finish their crossing of the bridge where they would meet Heimdall, guardian of the newly-rebuilt Bifrost. 

He's clad in his full suit of green, black, and gold armor - a combination of leather, metal, and thick fabric tailored perfectly to his tall frame. After time in isolation in an Asgardian prison wearing a simple shirt and trousers, it's comforting to be in his typical dress. The comfort level began and ended there, as his hands were secured tightly with shackles binding his magic.

Loki knows he won't be able to escape the bonds, but he twists them gently nonetheless. It's always important to make absolutely certain there were no mistakes made when fixing them to a prisoner, he knows, for a minute weakness could create a massive opportunity for exploitation and escape. Known on Asgard as the god of mischief, it would be of ill repute should he forget something so simple as ensuring that the bonds holding him are indeed binding.

Thor, his adopted brother and heir apparent to the throne of Asgard, frowns at him, his blonde hair tied out of his face with a brown leather cord. Clad in his traditional Asgardian armor, Thor is an intimidating presence to nearly everyone, but Loki simply finds his physical prowess an annoyance. What his brother has in brawn, he lacks in brains. 

"We are needed, Loki," Thor says simply.

"Yes, of course," Loki replies with snark. "How dare one would assume that the attentions of Thor - wielder of Mjölnir, son of Odin, the almighty protector of the Nine Realms - would best be directed elsewhere rather than Midgard, home of the helpless."

Thor sighs, clearly exasperated, and repeats his explanation yet again, "It was not without great effort that Tony Stark contacted Heimdall, brother. We must return to Earth."

"The Tin Man," snarls Loki, resentful of Thor's insistence upon calling him brother, is more than willing to make his disdain for the Avengers known. "I was led to believe he and his ragtag comrades were more than capable of protecting Midgard in your absence. I'm not surprised to hear of their imminent failure, of course, but I must urge you to find better companions in the future, Thor."

"On the contrary, there are none better," Thor replies cheerily, stepping forward to clap Heimdall heavily on the forearm in greeting. "My friend, what news?"

"They are awaiting for your arrival in New York," Heimdall tells him, his gold eyes shining in contrast with his dark brown skin.

"Good," Thor says, turning toward Loki. "Come, brother."

Loki rolls his eyes, begrudgingly stepping toward him. He watches as Thor nods at Heimdall, who opens the link between the Nine Realms to allow their passage. The familiar light overwhelms Loki's senses as the feeling of solid ground departs from under him for a few brief moments, only to return as the New York City skyline appears into his view. He exhales dramatically, his chest rising and falling with his breath, as he turns slowly on heels toward the sound of voices behind him.

"Hey there, Hercules," Tony Stark says to Thor, whose red cape is billowing behind him.

Standing atop Stark Tower, or now Avengers Tower, the wind whips around them. Loki's long black hair flies into his face, and he rolls his eyes, unwilling to raise his shackled hands to push it out of his bright green eyes. This entire situation is humiliating enough without advertising his captivity to some of his least-favorite Midgardians. He could practically taste the stench of humanity clinging to him already.

Thor greets Stark warmly, and Loki watches as he is wrapped into a brief embrace by the strawberry blonde Pepper Potts. Dr. Bruce Banner, more fondly known as a green maniac with a serious anger management problem, smiles meekly at Thor, then glances over at Loki.

"Babysitting?" Bruce asks, cocking his head toward Loki.

Thor smiles reassuringly, "Loki is here to help."

"Wonderful," Tony groans sarcastically. "Just what we need. The god of lies when we're trying to discover the truth."

Loki grins, his bright white teeth gleaming in the sunlight, "Who better to unearth foul play than he who has mastered it?"

"Touché," Tony replies.

He turns toward the door with Pepper on his arm with Thor and Bruce following. Loki's smile melts from his face as their back turns, glancing over his shoulder at the bright New York cityscape that was nearly his only a few months before, then follows them into the building with a scowl.


	15. A Friend

**ANNA PACES**   **THE FAR CORNER**  of the room nervously while Pepper and Tony are gone, clenching and unclenching her fists as she goes. She'd met Dr. Bruce Banner only a few moments earlier. A genteel, soft-spoken man with black hair sprinkled with grey, he wore thin wire-framed glasses across his handsome face that gave her the feeling they were more of a habit of lab work and staring at calculations than out of necessity. She was surprised when Tony Stark called him as the infamous Hulk, indicating that whenever he...transformed...he was a stark contrast from his calm behavior.

Needless to say, she made a mental note not to piss him off.

Tony, Pepper, and Dr. Banner had left Anna alone in the room, although she knew she was being watched on the various security cameras hidden and in plain sight around the building. No, here she would never really be alone, which only increased her nervousness.

Finally relaxing into a corner of a large, modern grey sofa, the sound of voices from the hallway sends Anna back to her feet.

Pepper enters the room first, a broad smile across her face. She is followed by Tony, Dr. Banner, and a muscular blonde man wearing odd clothing. The first thing Anna's brain registers is that this man is absolutely beautiful, then she takes in his armored chest and the red cape trailing behind him. She recognizes him from the videos on the internet - this must be Thor, the Asgardian god. Her face pales a bit as she realizes that fact, and she sucks in a shallow breath.

She's in the same room as a god.

A few steps behind him is another man in strange clothing, this time green and gold, tailored closely to his tall, lithe frame. His dark hair frames a pale and angular face dominated by startlingly bright green eyes that penetrate everything they land on. He's not handsome in a traditional sense, but his unique features intrigue her. She doesn't recognize him, but her gut tells her that he isn't someone she'd necessarily  _want_ to know.

"Anna," Tony says, his voice regaining some of its characteristic liveliness. "Meet Thor, god of thunder."

Before Anna could find the words, or the breath, to speak, Thor's booming voice fills the room.

"It's wonderful to meet you, Anna," he exclaims, beaming a broad smile and a courteous nod her way.

She bites back the urge to curtsy, forcing a smile instead, "Likewise."

Tony turns to Dr. Banner, mumbling a few unintelligible words to him, until the sound of a throat clearing causes him to lift his head. The black-haired stranger who cleared his throat grins cheekily at Tony, who rolls his eyes.

"Loki, Anna. Anna, Loki," he rattles off. "God of mischief. General asshole."

Loki's shoulders bounce in a silent laugh at Tony's description, his green eyes twinkling as he meets Anna's gaze. For a moment, she nearly forgets to breathe as she stares back at him and loses herself in the sea of emerald. He says nothing, choosing to watch her carefully instead.

Pepper's voice breaks Anna out of the trance, and she notices the corner of Loki's mouth curling into a smile at her obvious fluster. Like an idiot, she forgot to say anything to him after Tony's introduction. Her cheeks burn red with embarrassment, but she rolls back her shoulders and turns to face Pepper.

"Sorry, you were saying?"

"Would you like something to eat?" Pepper asks, motioning with the iPad she's holding out to Anna. "We're ordering some late dinner."

Anna nods, walking over to her to take the iPad and study the menu. She hasn't eaten anything since...well...she can't remember. It's been over twenty-four hours, she knows that much, and she's been running on little more than adrenaline for most of it. Until now, the idea of eating anything was nauseating, but she could feel her stomach rebelling against the lack of food. Looking at the menu, she's delighted to see that they are ordering Indian. Quickly adding an order of saag paneer and coconut naan to the menu, two of her favorite comfort foods, she hands the iPad back to Pepper.

"Thank you," she tells her. "I...I don't have any money, just lira and a credit card."

Pepper waves her off with a laugh, "I think Tony can afford to pay for your dinner."

Anna smiles at the woman, turning to face the men in the room. Tony's behind the bar, pouring himself yet another drink, while Dr. Banner helps himself to a water. Thor's laugh cracks through the room like rolling thunder as he takes a drink from the glass Tony hands him, his smile reaching deep into his eyes. It's hard to look away from him, Anna discovers, almost like there's some sort of magnetism pulling her gaze toward him.

 _Might be some sort of god-aura thing,_  she decides.

At the thought, she notices a slight movement out of the corner of her eye and turns to see Loki watching her with amusement. Pepper hands the tall man the iPad, which causes him to turn away from Anna, and he shakes his head at her. He's probably the type who thinks he's too good to eat with them, she wagers.

That's when she notices the shackles around his wrists, nearly hidden by his long green and black leather sleeves, and her eyes widen.

 _That explains why he doesn't want to eat_ , she tells herself. It'd be difficult to raise a fork to your mouth with your wrists cuffed together, and that doesn't even begin to cover how humiliating it would be.

He looks back at her, and for a moment she feels as though he knows exactly what she's thinking. Green eyes meet her blue ones, and a shiver runs down her spine. Exhaling, she lifts her chin a millimeter and takes a step toward him, willing herself to be brave. After all, he's the one in chains.

"Yes?" Loki asks her, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he lifts an eyebrow at her approach.

"I take it you're not one of the gang," she says, her heartbeat quickening.

Loki laughs, "Fortunately not."

His chuckle sets her at ease for a moment, as she glances over her shoulder at Tony and the rest of them. Whoever this man is, he doesn't appear to be on the friendliest of terms with the rest of the Avengers.

 _You know what they say,_  Anna says to herself, turning back to Loki with a timid smile.  _The enemy of my enemy is my friend._

 


	16. Bigger Problems

**LOKI SETTLES HIMSELF** into a sofa in what is now Avengers Tower, watching the inhabitants of the room carefully. The brunette Stark called Anna has positioned herself on a neighboring armchair, her hands folded carefully in her lap. A small movement catches the corner of his eye, and he notices her twisting her fingers nervously. He lifts an eyebrow - unbeknownst to her - mentally cataloguing the behavior of the young woman along with that of everyone else in the room. Anything and everything might be of use to him, so he lets nothing slip his notice.

After the food arrives, the team begins to feast. Thor is boisterous as always, laughing and joking with the mild-mannered Dr. Banner who Loki remembers less-than-fondly as the green monster who beat him into a pulp in this very room. Tony Stark is far quieter than usual, his trademark snark reduced as he speaks in hushed tones with the strawberry blonde woman. Loki can't be bothered to remember her name, but he has noticed her worrisome glances between Tony and the brunette sitting quietly to his right side.

The woman next to him is an outsider, it's obvious to him even without her ridiculous nervous hand-wringing habit. Clearly she's overwhelmed by those in the room or she is hiding something. His pride points to the former - rightfully so. As she is but a mere mortal, he could hardly blame her.

She glances his way, blue eyes darting quickly over his appearance, and makes a move to speak.

"Spare the trivialities," Loki drawls, rolling his gaze lazily away from her. "We're not allies, nor shall we be such."

Her face turns bright red, and her right hand clutches the carton of Indian food balanced carefully in her lap.

"I was going to offer you some naan," she says softly, glancing down at the piece of bread in her left hand. "I thought it might be easier to eat with, well..."

Her voice trails, and Loki glances down at the shackles restraining his wrists from movements. No, he certainly couldn't eat in the presence of these people with such a predicament. He refused to humiliate himself further by attempting such an act. A grimace crosses his face, resentful of the fact that she thought he could circumvent such indignity with something so simple as a piece of bread.

"No," he replies succinctly, not bothering to face her.

She sucks in a breath, "I guess you really are an asshole."

"Pray don't delude yourself, mortal wench," Loki hisses, turning to glare at her, his green eyes flashing. "I did not request your presence nor your pity. Whilst these shackles may prevent me from snapping your neck at the moment, don't think I won't revel in waiting to kill you at my leisure."

Her food clatters to the floor as she stands suddenly, causing the rest of the room's occupants to face them with varying degrees of surprise. Thor narrows his eyes at Loki, who feigns innocence, as the girl sputters apologies at the mess on the floor. Pepper crosses the room instantly, armed with paper towels and a plastic bag, helping her to clean the Indian food splattered on the ground.

"You okay?" Tony asks, watching the trio closely.

"Fine," Anna replies quickly, her voice tight in her chest. "An accident."

Tony resumes his seat, and Anna insists Pepper leave her to clean up the mess. She obliges reluctantly, leaving Loki to watch with amusement as she cleans the floor near his feet. He notices a glob of food on the toe of his boot and clears his throat, causing the girl to glance up at him with alarm. Raising his shackles, he nods at the mess on his boot, pleased with the prospect of such a pathetic human wiping his boot clean.

The woman glances down for a moment, her hand hovering over the leather, then turns her chin up to him. Blue eyes meet his own, two icy spheres shooting daggers at him. Without blinking, she stands to her feet and flips the bag containing the remnants of her dinner and paper towels, allowing its contents to empty on Loki's lap.

"BITCH," he roars instantly, flying to his feet and slamming her against the wall.

She gasps for breath as his shackled hands move to encircle her neck, and her hands fly up instantly to jab her thumbs into his eyes. Releasing her instantly to recover, she falls forward only to be grabbed by the hair and yanked toward him. A yelp escapes her lips before capitalizing on the proximity of her hunched position and instinctively driving an elbow into his private region.

Loki drops her a second time, only to be tackled to the ground by Thor. Struggling against him, he fights to reach her as she is pulled to safety behind Tony Stark.

"Brother, stop this," Thor growls at him, pressing his shoulders firmly into the ground.

Anna is coughing behind Tony, attempting to regain her breath, as Loki - red in the face as he struggles against Thor - spouts a string of Asgardian profanities at them.

"We get it, princess, your outfit is dirty," Tony quips at Loki before turning his attention to Anna. "You just pissed off a very powerful Wilson Leather shopper, my dear. You okay?"

She nods, carefully massaging her throat. Pepper and Bruce Banner watch from the other side of the room, and Tony points Anna over toward them. Circumventing Loki and Thor slowly, she joins them without taking her eyes off the man in green on the floor.

"Now," he turns to Loki and Thor. "Do you need some shoe polish to clean yourself up? Because we have bigger problems, and I don't really have the patience or the blood pressure to deal with this right now."

 


	17. They're Coming

**THE NEXT MORNING** , the group assembled in a large meeting room. Anna, wary of the tall god of mischief occupying the most remote corner, took the seat closest to the door.

She hadn't expected to be invited to stay overnight in the Avengers' Tower, but Pepper insisted. Without any money, she had little choice but to accept their hospitality and was promptly ushered to a modestly-sized bedroom and accompanying bathroom. The room was simply furnished, no more than was necessary, with a simple grey bedspread atop crisp white sheets, but it radiated warmth despite the minimalism. Something about this Tower breathed life to Anna, and she had yet to put her finger on the source.

Sleep greeted her within moments of her head touching the pillow. Her body - exhausted from more than 24 hours without sleep coupled with the events of the day - sank willingly into the soft mattress where she slept dreamlessly until Pepper's light knock woke her 6 hours later.

The strawberry blonde woman had offered her a change of clothes and a towel before leaving for work, allowing Anna to gratefully scrub the layer of dirt and grime from her skin. Freshly clothed in a plain black top and cropped yoga leggings, she was met by Dr. Banner who promptly led her to the conference room where she now waits with her chin resting in her hand for Tony to arrive.

After several minutes of waiting, Dr. Banner disappeared from the room to fetch him, leaving Anna alone in the room with the two Asgardian gods.

Not exactly a fantasy situation.

"Lady Anna," says Thor jovially, more than willing to break the silence. "Do you know of a delightful drink called 'coffee'? I shall be honored to bring you a flagon to warm you whilst we wait, should you desire."

Anna straightens, her cheeks flushed pink at his offer. While it's adorable that such a man - such a  _god_  - wants to fetch her coffee, she isn't sure her stomach or her nerves could handle the caffeine.

"No, thank you," she replies. "I'm fine."

Thor's face falls, and she returns her gaze to her fingers. Fiddling with the edge of the soft black fabric, she focuses on the feel of the cotton weave against her fingertips rather than the green eyes glued on her face.

From the moment she walked into the room, Loki hadn't moved an inch. He is refusing to acknowledge her presence, she is sure of it, but she can feel the tension in the air. Only after she spoke did he turn his eyes upon her, emerald green watching her every movement from across the room. The blush on her cheeks deepened to a blazing red, as she is acutely aware of his eyes on her face.

Her mind flashed back to the previous evening when he first threatened her life then attacked her viciously. The red-brown imprint of his hands around her throat now decorated the ivory skin of her neck, a temporary reminder of their brief altercation.

No, Anna refused to look at him just like she refused to touch the bruises on her neck for fear that further pain would follow.

Dr. Banner enters the room with Tony in tow, effectively drawing all of their attention, especially as Stark is drunk. Really, really drunk.

"Oi, Barnum and Bailey, when's the next show?" He cackles at Thor and Loki as Bruce guides him into the room and into a seat. "Get it? Ringling Brothers? You'd make a great circus act."

"Tony, sit down," Banner instructs him as if talking to a small child. Anna can't help but wonder if his patience is some sort of twisted irony related to his 'condition' or due to the fact that Tony Stark is drunk more often than not.

"Stark, are you given to the drink?" Thor's voice thunders across the room, causing Anna to wince. "And at this hour? Have you no sense, man?"

 _Well, there goes that theory,_  Anna thinks.

Tony shouts back at Thor a slew of incomprehensible words whilst Dr. Banner attempts - and fails - to calm him down. Thor, clearly outraged at whatever rubbish Stark is spewing, shouts back at him to add to the din. Within seconds, the three are talking over each other in an awkward squabble, while Anna massages the headache creeping in at her temples.

These are supposedly the defenders of humanity. Great.

A slight movement in the corner attracts her eye, and she sees Loki watching them with an amused smirk painted across his features. His green eyes sparkle with mirth, and his thin lips are curled upward across his pale face. He's enjoying the chaos. As the god of mischief, a part of her can't necessarily blame him - and another wonders if he's to blame.

"That's enough!" Banner shouts, his fist slamming against the table.

The room freezes, all eyes on the scientist whose nerves seem to have frayed just a bit too far. Even Loki's smile has washed from his face as all of them are not-so-secretly praying they don't have a visit from the green guy on their hands.

"Bruce..." Tony starts to slur.

"No offense, Tony, but shut up," he snaps, rubbing the bridge of his nose while he sets his glasses on the table.

Thor chuckles, pleased by the chastisement, which earns him a strong glare from Banner and a crude gesture from Stark. He lowers himself back into his seat while Loki and Anna's eyes remain locked on Dr. Banner. The former has no desire to be reacquainted with the Hulk after the damage dealt to him in their last encounter, while the latter is certain she wouldn't survive the introduction. Both are relieved when he slips his glasses back on his face, exhaling slowly, and an appearance of calm falls over his features once again.

"Okay," Banner begins. "We went over the situation last night, and - Anna - unfortunately, this isn't a standalone event. Someone is either feeding SHIELD false information or hacking into Jarvis --"

"No hack, not a hack," Tony mumbles. "Is impossible."

Banner sighs, ignoring him, and continues, "Regardless, it's becoming a major problem. This last case made it international news, and SHIELD is scrambling to find a solution. Director Fury thinks there could be a mole at a high level in the organization, so he's insisted that we work outside SHIELD to find a solution."

A chill runs down Anna's spine as she processes his words. If this isn't the only person who has died, then....how many? How many innocent people have been killed? Her mind flashes back to the photographs of Rifat and his daughters, reeling at the thought, and her stomach lurches in response.

"Normally, I'd say Tony could handle this on his own," Banner tells them, "But given...well, given what's happened, it's clear--"

Tony's phone rings loudly to the tune of Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback" causing him to shuffle in his chair while he locates it. Finally pulling it out of his pocket with a puerile grin, he swipes to accept the call.

"Rhodey, my...my cupcake, you miss me?" Tony answers with a drunken giggle. "I know you did, but I wan' hear you say it. Jussay it."

"Tony, what the hell is going on?" James 'Rhodey' Rhodes voice crackles through speakerphone.

Tony makes a face, "Issa party?"

Thor slaps his palm on his face, while Banner snags the phone from Tony.

"James, this is Bruce," he tells him. "What is it? We're kinda in the middle of something."

"Yeah? Well, this is more important," Rhodey snaps. "You're about to be raided."

Tony's head snaps up, and Thor's hand drops from his face.

"What?" Bruce asks.

"Raided. Full-scale attack on the Tower," the man tells them through the phone. "They're calling for Tony's arrest. They want to charge him for murder - there are talks of war crimes."

The room falls silent for a moment as his words sink in before Tony speaks.

"Bullshit," Tony snaps back. "Real funny, Rhodes. You got me. Ha--"

"They got Pepper, Tony," Rhodes replies softly. "They took her in for questioning an hour ago, and now they're coming from you."

A second later, an alarm screams through the room, and Jarvis' voice comes on through the loudspeaker.

"Sir, we have a problem."


	18. Invasion of Stark Tower

**THE SOUND OF CONCERN**  in Jarvis' voice sends the room's occupants to their seats, excepting Anna and Loki, the former who is staring at Tony with a look of confusion and the latter watching the girl with amusement.

"What the hell is going on?" Tony shouts at Jarvis, drowning out Rhodes' concerned voice coming through the speakerphone.

"Sir, they've breached the building," Jarvis replies. The screen at the front of the room comes to life with feeds of the building's security cameras as a team of armed operatives sweeps through the ground floors. "They'll be here in less than five minutes."

"Stop them," the billionaire slams his fist on the table, causing Anna to jump. "Shut down the building."

Bruce coughs, "Are you sure that's a good idea, Tony?"

Tony whirls to face him, eyes crazed and bloodshot with liquor and lack of sleep. The alarm screams in the background, and Thor takes a step toward the two of them. Rhodes' voice breaks through the noise.

"They have Pepper, Tony," he repeats. "If you don't come quietly, what will that look like? What about her?"

"The good colonel is correct, Stark," Thor affirms. "Whoever holds the Lady Potts will likely keep her until you surrender yourself. Were I in your predicament with Jane, I...I believe I would only have one choice."

Loki snorts, his shoulders shaking with muffled laughter.

"Got something to say, Reindeer Games?" Tony snaps at him.

"It takes three of you to form a semi-coherent thought," Loki sneers back, "And yet it's still rife with stupidity. 'Save the girl.' It's all very gallant and noble."

"No one asked for your opinion," Bruce tells Loki, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder as he seethes at the Asgardian god. "Tony, c'mon. Let's go."

Loki laughs, kicking up his legs on the table, and lifts his hands behind his head to relax into them. Thor glowers at his insolence, while Tony lowers his body into the seat at the opposite end of the table. His shoulders slump forward while the room waits for him to respond, with nothing but the sound of the alarm filling the room.

"I have to turn myself in," Tony mumbles, running a hand through his already mussed dark brown hair.

"Because the heroics have worked in your favor thus far," Loki snickers, allowing his piercing green eyes to close.

Tony explodes.

"What would you do, huh? You're a war criminal. If they find you, you're as good as  _dead_." He shouts, his seat flying out from behind him as he jumps to his feet and lunges at Loki from across the table. Thor steps between them, Loki's eyes opening in a flash, as the god of thunder gently restrains the disgruntled man of iron.

"You don't even know who  _they_  are," Loki hisses, sitting up and letting his shackled hands fall into his lap. His eyes are filled with venom as he stands slowly before Stark, allowing the gravity of his threats to sink in. Recognition sets in his features as he realizes that the man is right - his own safety is at risk - then he glances at Anna before turning back to Stark. "Or am I mistaken?"

"Rhodey?" Tony asks, whipping around to look at the phone. Rhodes clears his throat to acknowledge that he's still on the line. "Who are they?"

"U.S. Army Special Ops," Rhodes tells him reluctantly. "They're working under orders of General Carson, Tony, and we both know he doesn't use the most 'traditional' methods."

Loki's eyes widen. Fear flashes in them for a split second before behind replaced by a veneer of rage. It seems the repercussions of his actions in New York not long ago might come to face him sooner than expected, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of ending up dead or imprisoned on Midgard.

Tony's groan interrupts his thoughts. He knows this Carson. The general was known for being a fan of torture and other illegal means of intelligence and warfare. He and Rhodes had been working to gain information about his unsanctioned activities in the Middle East, but nothing had come up yet. Carter loathed Stark and his 'crusade' against the General, which meant Pepper might actually be in danger.

"There's a public outcry, Tony," Rhodes continues, his voice softer. "The people want you behind bars...or worse."

"Sir?" Jarvis' voice interrupts Tony before words can come out of his mouth. "You have less than 90 seconds before the floor is breached."

A swear slips from Tony's mouth as he looks around the room. Loki stands behind Thor, his posture relaxed, while Bruce is anxiously rubbing his neck by the door. His eyes flit between each of them before landing on the girl perched precariously in the seat normally occupied by Natasha Romanoff.

"You," Tony says.

Anna's eyes widen as her posture straightens. Thor and Bruce look at Tony questioningly then at the girl, trying to follow the brilliant man's train of thought.

"You're the connection," Tony says, rushing around the table and grabbing Anna's arm to pull her to her feet. "You were there in Istanbul."

"And?" Anna asks.

Tony stares blankly at her, "And you're going to find out who is responsible for this."

"What?!" Anna and Bruce say simultaneously.

He moves for the door, glancing down the corridor, before beckoning the others to follow him. The special ops team will be breaking into the floor at any moment, leaving the balcony as the only exit. Not exactly ideal, but with two gods, Tony's mind was already racing for a workable solution.

"You're a journalist, right?" Tony asks Anna, who nods as he pulls her toward the door to the balcony. "She's a journalist. She can follow the leads. Find out who fed us false information and, more importantly, why."

Banging against the stairwell door interrupts his train of thought for a moment, then a blinding light followed by a bang erupts into the room as armed figured in black burst into the room. Shouting follows as chaos erupts in the smoke.

"Take her!" Tony shouts, running toward the men breaching the floor. He takes a swing at the first one, tackling him to the ground. A second slips in behind him, his gun trained on Bruce Banner. Shooting a tranquilizer into him, his face contorts in pain before flashing with pure rage and tinting green. The soldier's face pales in recognition of his mistake as Dr. Banner - calm, mild mannered Bruce - is replaced by The Hulk.

"GO!" Thor shouts, grabbing Anna's arm and tugging her out on the balcony. Loki follows behind him, not allowing himself to glance over his shoulder at the green rage monster he remembers less-than-fondly.

"Thor," Loki cries, holding his wrists out to his adopted brother as the sounds of Hulk's destruction reach their ears outside. It's only a matter of moments before he turns his attention away from the special ops team and seeks an escape on the balcony where they stand.

Thor glances over his shoulder at scene inside, before turning his back to the glass and grabbing Loki's wrists.

"I'm trusting you, brother," he tells Loki with a growl as he releases Anna's arm to undo the shackles from his wrists.

Anna rubs her forearm, watching the madness unfold with wide eyes, before turning back to the two gods standing before her. The moment the bonds are released, Loki smiles wryly at Thor.

"You never learn, do you Thor?" Loki cackles.

His green eyes are filled with mischief as he feels the familiar surge of magic coursing through his veins. In that instant, before he can act on his new-found freedom, the glass separating them from the chaos inside is shattered as Hulk comes raging across the balcony followed by more special forces officers.

"Take her!" Thor roars, pushing Anna into Loki.

Thor spins on his heels to face the oncoming attackers - both his friend and their foes - while calling Mjölnir to his hand. Anna falls against Loki, grasping at his armor to brace herself, while his hand snakes around her waist. The glint in his eye makes her tug away from him instantly, repulsed by the proximity by someone her every instinct is telling her to avoid, but he holds her close to his chest.

A spray of bullets ricochets around them, and Anna ducks her head against him for cover as Loki teleports the two of them off the balcony and into the unknown.

 


	19. Abandoned

**THE MOMENT HER FEET** hit solid ground,Anna stumbles forward onto her knees. The first thing she notices is how soft the ground is beneath her. The second is the cold.

It's  _freezing._  Once her head stops spinning as much, the bright white glare around her comes into focus as she realizes that she's sitting in a heap of snow. Her bare calves burn from the cold, while her thin black pants are already damp and chilled. She can't see Loki anywhere in the glacial landscape, which causes a thread of panic to stab through her chest.

Leave it to the god of mischief to abandon her in fricking Antarctica.

Groaning, she pushes her frozen limbs upright, but her knees buckle immediately and she nearly faceplants in the white powder. In that moment, she notices a trickle of scarlet on the snow in front of her.

Shit.

The trail of blood leads up to her right bicep, where a bullet ripped through her flesh. Her black shirt sticks to her skin as she gingerly touches the area near the bullet wound. Fire erupts in her veins as the pain hits her. It's a deep burning sensation coupled with an intense throbbing pain twisting through her arm in agony. Without thinking, she rips the remainder of her sleeve away from her arm and wraps a dry section around the wound.

Once it's pulled tight, she wrangles it into a one-handed knot. The burning has been muted, but the steady throb continues to ache as she takes a few unsteady breaths.

"I can't stay here," she mumbles to herself.

Forcing herself onto her feet for a second time, she totters for a moment before regaining a semblance of balance. The snow beneath her feet is the only patch disturbed, everything around her is fresh powder untouched by any life form, which means she's alone here.

Wherever  _here_  is, she's not quite sure.

The ground is sloped, leading her to believe that she's on some sort of hill or mountain. It's not steep here, but it's difficult to tell if the ground continues at this incline all around the horizon with the sunlight blazing down on her. The sky is a vivid blue, and the sun is not quite overhead. If she had to guess, wherever she is, it's sometime just past noon.

Could be Antarctica, could be Europe.

Then again, she vaguely remembers something from school about Antarctica being coldest in July, averaging -76 degrees Fahrenheit on "warm" days, which would cause her skin to freeze in 30 seconds. Considering she's not yet frozen, that narrows it down to Europe.

Her instincts tell her to move down the mountain and fast. It's hard to tell how much blood she's lost, especially given the whole "I just teleported" thing, and she certainly won't make it out on the mountain at night. Right now, the glaring sunlight is keeping her alive.

*********   
**Loki**

After a few hours of trudging through snow, Loki is furious. Somehow the Midgardian woman separated from him when he transported her away from the invasion at Stark's tower, meaning not only was he tasked with babysitting a mortal, now he had to  _find_  her.

They'd landed somewhere in the Swiss Alps, but he'd yet to find any trace of her in the glistening white landscape. The sun was deeper in the western sky, meaning he had only a few hours left to find her before night falls over the mountains. Given the fact that the temperature was barely above freezing in the afternoon sun, he knew that the temperatures would plunge overnight and greatly decrease her chances of survival.

If she died, it might mean less hassle for him at the moment, but he knew Thor would hold him responsible for the mortal's demise and likely toss him back into his cell in the Asgardian dungeon. Slogging through snow might not be his idea of a diverting afternoon, but it is truly better than the mundane life of a prisoner.

He makes his way up a short overhang in the mountain, giving him a vantage point over a larger swath of land below him. Once he reaches the top, his emerald eyes narrow as they take in everything, barely noticing a hint of tracks in the snow.

That must be her.

Loki hurries off the overhang, moving gracefully as if unhindered by the snow toward the place where the tracks begin. He notices that the snow is flattened - she must've fallen here - before his eyes land on a bright scarlet trail that stains the snow. Blood.

The pool of red reduces into sporadic drops along her tracks that he follows with his pace quickening. Whatever injury she has sustained, the temperature on the mountain will not be conducive to her retaining consciousness for much longer.

Sure enough, a small black speck comes into his sight at the horizon.

He can't tell if it's moving or not, so he hastens toward it. The distance between them shortens rapidly, causing Loki to rush toward the tiny figure huddled in the snow.

Once he reaches her, he slides to his knees beside her and gently turns her toward him. Her face is pale, brown hair matted against her forehead from a feverish sweat and the melting snow, and her eyes are closed.

His hands dance over her body, checking for injuries, before landing on the gunshot wound on her upper arm. It doesn't take him long to see that the bullet tore through the skin and lodged itself in the bone of her arm instead of firing straight through.

Whispering a few words of healing, he spreads his fingers over the wound and allows his magic to seek out the damage and repair the worst of it. The bullet inside her arm prevents him from healing it fully - he'll have to remove it before he can do anything else.

He sighs, wiping his brow with the back of his bloodstained hand, as he conjures a fresh bandage to replace the black fabric she'd tied around her arm. Wrapping it around several times, he secures it with a small knot before glancing back up at the woman's pale face.

She'd lost a significant amount of blood, but he believed her to be in more danger from the cold than anything. In a swift movement, he tugs off his heavy black and green overcoat adorned with leather and armor and drapes it over her before standing and scooping her up in his arms.

Her eyes flutter open, pupils adjusting to the light before her blue eyes focus on his face.

"Hey, jackass," she mutters weakly.


	20. A Snowy Wasteland

**LOKI SMIRKS**  without meeting her gaze. Were she not bleeding and half-frozen to death due to his own actions, he most certainly would've taken great pleasure in dropping her into the snow. Now, if it'd been only one of those two things, then he might not have commanded so much self-restraint.

"Why are you smiling?" Anna coughs, turning her head away from his chest. She felt woozy, no doubt increased by the fact that she was moving.

Wait,  _they_  were moving. He was carrying her.

"Merely pondering the origins of your precipitous hostility, mortal," Loki quips without hesitating a beat. "Surely it isn't innate, but given the inferior blood coursing through your veins I can't say that I'm surprised by it."

Anna rolls her eyes, sighing as she rests her head against his chest.

"Pot calling the kettle black, yeah?" She mutters, her voice barely a whisper.

Loki pretends not to hear her but continues navigating through the snow. The sun would be setting in less than two hours, and he hoped to make it to shelter before nightfall. A sharp wind whipped across his face, indicating the likelihood of inclement weather which he hoped to avoid given the circumstance. His magic would need a night to recover from traveling such a distance, and he doubted he'd get the rest needed to escape this gods forsaken place out in the open during a turbulent storm.

A chill runs through his arms startling him, so he hazards a look down at the woman in his arms only to discover she is still shivering with cold. Her face is wrought with concentration as she fights to keep control over the mild tremors. If Loki had a normal body temperature, his proximity to her would probably help. As it was, his Frost Giant blood likely made her even colder.

"I am sorry," he admits quietly.

Her blue eyes snap up to meet his green ones in disbelief.

"You  _didn't_  mean to abandon me in a snowy wasteland?" Anna scoffs, a loopy smile tugging at one corner of her mouth.

"No," Loki says, lifting an eyebrow, "Yet I assure you, it can most certainly be arranged."

Anna slips her left arm around his shoulder and up his back, her fingers clutching tightly to the fabric of the green undershirt peeking out from the back of the armor strapped around his chest. Loki frowns, the feeling of her skin brushing against his own causing him to recoil unwittingly.

"You wouldn't," Anna whispers.

"I would," Loki retorts, "But I won't....for the moment."

"Why not?"

Loki rolls his eyes, clearly annoyed by their ongoing conversation, "Because as much as I dislike the current company and conversation, it's somewhat of an improvement over my previous domicile."

Anna snaps her mouth shut, not wanting to pester the god further. She was not an aggressive type - nor a passive one - but she knew that it would be unwise to piss off the man currently saving her life, as much as she hated to let his rudeness go unnoticed. She absolutely despised rudeness, meaning Loki had been tumbling down the slopes of her opinion since they met like a runaway train with no signs of stopping.

They fall into an uncomfortable silence, and Anna attempts to keep her trembling to a minimum. As the sun slips lower in the sky, her eyelids close again and she falls into a light sleep in Loki's arms. He frowns at her unconscious form, questioning whether or not he should keep her awake considering he isn't certain how much blood she has lost, but the glare of the setting sun against glass atop a rocky mountaintop attracts his attention.

The snow is no longer undisturbed, as Loki steps over chains onto a well-worn path that leads toward a tunnel in the base of the rock. Clouds fill the sky as the temperature continues to drop, so he hurries toward the opening. Once inside, he navigates through the tunnel toward an elevator and jams his thumb against the button. Doors slide open, and he carefully maneuvers inside to avoid disturbing the sleeping woman in his arms before pressing another button that will take them to the top of the mountain.

Nestled on a breathtakingly steep precipice at Jungfraujoch, known as the "Top of Europe," is the Sphinx Observatory. Overlooking the Aletsah Glacier and the Swiss Alps, it is home to multiple laboratories as well as spectacular views.

Needless to say, Loki did not bring Anna here on accident. As the elevator swings open, his startling green gaze lands on a young woman in a puffy red coat who drops what she's holding at the sight of them.

"Hello, Jane Foster," Loki says with a mischievous smile.


	21. Surgery

**"IT CAN'T BE,"**  Jane whispers, her brown eyes wide with a mixture of fear and wonder.

Loki steps out of the elevator, and Jane scuttles backward cautiously. He lifts an eyebrow, clearly annoyed with her gaping stare. The wind swirls around them, whipping his black hair into a dreadful mess, and he's certain that the clouds will open up in minutes. Ideally, he would like to skip this awkward introduction and get off the gods forsaken metal platform and into the observatory.

"Wh-why are you here?" Jane says to him.

"Peaceful reasons," Loki snaps. "Unless you continue to try my patience with such nonsense."

He moves swiftly across the creaking metal of the observation deck, motioning with one hand to swing the door open. Jane hastily grabs the file folders she'd dropped on the ground at the sight of him before rushing after him.

"Hey, you can't just go in there!"

Loki ignores her, expertly navigating through the observatory until arriving at one of the ten living spaces reserved for visiting researchers. His long strides greatly outpace Jane's, and she jogs into the room seconds after him only to watch him place Anna gently upon the empty bed.

"Who is she?" Jane asks, resting her hands on her upper thighs as she catches her breath.

"Does it matter?"

He speaks to Jane without taking his eyes off the unconscious woman, carefully moving the heavy black and green overcoat draped over her body to expose her bloodied arm. The bandage is soaked through, and Anna's face is ghostly white from blood loss.

Jane gasps at the sight.

"What happened? Is she ali--"

"For the moment," Loki interrupts her, rapidly losing his patience. "Do you have medical supplies?"

Jane mumbles something to the affirmative, disappearing from the room momentarily only to come thundering back in armed with a large medical kit. While the observatory wasn't used by medical doctors, its remote location necessitated a well-stocked medicine cabinet in case of emergencies. Somehow, she doesn't think this is quite the type of emergency they had planned for.

"Bring it to me," Loki stretches out a hand, taking the case and flipping it open.

Once the bandage is removed, he rummages through the case to reveal a large pair of tweezers and a container of rubbing alcohol.

"Apply pressure here," Loki directs Jane, pointing to the brachial artery so she can reduce the blood flow to the wound.

"You can't just  _operate_  on her," Jane starts to argue, only to fall silent at Loki's blazing emerald glare.

He mumbles a few words over her, ensuring that she will remain unconscious, before disinfecting the tweezers. Exhaling slowly, he leans forward and pours alcohol into the wound. Anna's body jerks in reaction, and he's grateful that she isn't awake to feel the burn of alcohol cleansing the wound. Familiarizing himself with the tweezers, he pushes them into the wound in search of the bullet. Beside him, Jane warns him to be wary of the major artery and excessive movements which might cause nerve damage.

The bullet is lodged into the bone, which is cracked from the impact. Working silently, Loki manages to remove the bullet somewhat quickly before dousing the open wound with alcohol a second time. He can do little to heal the major damage of the wound - the cracked humerus and gaping hole - until Anna's body initiates healing on its own. Once his magic is replenished, he should be able to speed up the healing process and prevent lasting damage, but for the meantime he is forced to awkwardly stitch the wound with Jane's assistance and bind it tightly with fresh bandages.

"Here are antibiotics," Jane says, handing him a small container of pills. "She'll need to take these once she wakes up to prevent infection."

Loki nods, wiping the deep scarlet blood from his hands. His pale skin is stained with her blood, and - as Jane continues to pack the medical kit and moves it to the corner of the room should they need it again - he can't help but stare at the deep red caked under his fingernails.

It is not the first time blood has stained his hands, especially after the Battle of New York, but this was far different from battles he has experienced thus far. Far in the mountains of Switzerland, the woman lying unconscious before him is no warrior. This is far beyond anything she deserves.

In spite of everything - her humanity, her impertinent manners, and his disgust with her less than twenty-four hours prior - the stains on his hands filled him with rage. 


	22. Awake

**WHEN ANNA WAKES**  the next morning, it is slowly and unwillingly. Her whole body feels weighted down, and her right arm aches with a constant, overwhelming pain. She'd much rather be asleep than deal with this pain, so she refuses to open her eyelids for several minutes until the continual building of pain forces them to blink open.

Dim light streaming through a small window hits her eyes, and her vision slowly focuses on the unfamiliar surroundings. Wherever she is, it's not outside in the freezing snow, which means she must not be dead. Hopefully.

Movement in the corner of the room draws her attention, and she rolls her head to the side to see Loki reading in a small armchair. She studies him for a moment, racking her brain for any sort of indication of their current location.

"It is impolite to stare," Loki says without lifting his gaze from the book.

Anna laughs, but it comes as a cough, "It's impolite to drop someone off in the middle of nowhere, bleeding out, but you don't see me complaining."

Her voice is raspy from sleep as she struggles to lift herself upright. The weight, she discovers, is from Loki's heavy leather and metal adorned overcoat, which is still draped over her body as well as a thick pile of blankets. She winces as she puts weight on her right arm, twisting upright quickly to pull it against her body.

"You should lie back down," Loki tells her, still reading his book.

"You shouldn't tell me what to do," she snaps back, her eyes shut as she seethes at him through the pain.

He sighs, closing the book and waving a hand over it. It fades away into nothing as he stands and crosses the bed to Anna. Gently brushing his fingers on her shoulder, she jerks away from him suddenly. The quick movement sends another jolt of discomfort through her, and she squeezes her eyes shut to prevent tears from leaking down her cheeks.

"May I?" Loki says softly, waiting for her consent before touching her arm again.

He makes no effort to hide his annoyance, thinking of the makeshift stitches that may not withstand her movements. If at all possible, he would like to avoid repeating the operation. Part of him is bothered by the pain she's in - as well as her tendency to recoil from his touch - but he buries that deep underneath his indifferent exterior thanks to centuries of practice.

Anna's blue eyes meet his green ones, and she nods. It is a nearly imperceptible movement, and she keeps her eyes glued on him as he takes her arm into his hand.

"It's time I changed the bandage," he explains, kneeling beside her and unwrapping her arm gingerly to reduce discomfort.

The stitches are intact, thankfully, and there appears to be no sign of infection setting into the wound. She's been moving the arm, meaning muscle and nerve damage is minimal, but her pain is likely compounded by the cracked bone. The wards he placed over her to sleep have long worn off, meaning the ones he'd placed upon discovering her in the snow to reduce pain must be as well.

He glances up at her, noticing how her blue eyes are trained on his every movement. There is no threat of tears in her eyes, but he can see the pain etched in the lines on her forehead. This woman is far stronger than he'd imagined. Lifting a fresh bandage, Loki binds it carefully.

"Thank you," Anna says as he finishes.

"Don't tear your stitches," he lifts an eyebrow as he replies. "The bullet was lodged into bone, cracking it. I cannot repair the damage, but I can expedite the healing process."

"Really?"

He smirks, his hand hovering over the bandage as he whispers in a language foreign to Anna's ears. The screaming pain in her arm dulls instantly, and her eyes widen in shock.

"Better?" Loki asks.

She nods, "Much."

A swift knock on the door turns their heads, and Loki stands to discard the old bandage and open it. Jane Foster stands in front of him in a thick maroon sweater and jeans, her arms folded tightly across her chest, as she glares up at him.

"We need to talk," she demands. "I gave you the night to watch her. I want answers."

Anna clears her throat, flushing momentarily at the thought of Loki sitting up with her all night, to announce her presence to the woman at the door. A tiny brunette peeks around the tall Asgardian, her brown eyes wide as she takes in Anna's conscious form with surprise.

"You're up!" Jane squeaks. "I didn't think you'd be awake so soon."

Loki sighs, clearly bored, and steps aside to allow Jane to enter the room. She quickly moves to Anna's side while he returns to his chair, conjuring his book once more while the two of them get acquainted.

"I'm Jane," she says, sticking her hand out.

Anna smiles, looking from Jane's outstretched hand to the injured right arm pressed tightly against her.

"Anna," she replies with a nod.

"Oh!" Jane drops her hand. "Oh, right. I'm sorry."

Anna laughs, "It's fine."

Looking at her feet, Jane pauses for a moment before glancing at Loki and back at Anna.

"How do you know Lo--"

"I don't," Anna interrupts. "We've only just met."

Jane looks surprised, "And he...found you like this? In Switzerland?"

"Are we in Switzerland? I didn't know," Anna replies. "No, we were in New York with others. Stark Tower was under attack, and I was shot."

"You  _kidnapped_  her?" Jane whirls around to face Loki, who refuses to lift his eyes from his book.

Clearly pissed, Jane reaches forward and snags it from his lap to toss it across the room. Loki's fingers expertly capture her wrist, locking tightly around it. His green eyes blaze as she looks down at him fearfully, clearly expecting him to break the bone - or worse - given what little she knows about him. Instead, he plucks the book from her hand and releases her, leaning back in the armchair.

"I wasn't the cause of the attack," he sneers, the chill in his voice sending shivers through Anna.

"Stark told him to take me," Anna clarifies. "He was arrested. Thor and Dr. Bann--"

"Thor?" Jane's eyes fly open. "Thor's here?"

Loki's voice slices through the room like a knife, " _No._ "

Her shoulders slump noticeably, and she turns back to glare at Loki. Far enough away to stay out of his range, her hands are firmly planted on her hips.

"Then why are you here?" She demands. "Rumors from S.H.I.E.L.D say you're the one responsible for New York. You nearly killed your brother, destroyed that town in New Mexico, then wipe out Manhattan - killing who knows how many - and suddenly you're off scot free? Bullshit."


	23. Surprise

**ANNA GASPS** at the revelation. Loki is the one behind the Battle of New York. That must've been what Tony meant when he called him a war criminal. She'd seen countless news reports on the alien invasion that crippled New York City and alerted humanity that they were not alone in the universe. Somehow, the idea of there being a single  _mastermind_  behind the destruction never made it public.

"I assure you," Loki snaps back at Jane, slamming his book shut and causing both women to jump, "Spending my time in your presence is not my idea of pleasant, nor am I on this revolting planet of yours of my own free will."

"Then, please, do us all a favor and leave," Anna speaks up.

Both Loki and Jane stare at her, the former's face flashing momentarily with hurt, as she swings her legs out from under the mountain of blankets and Loki's leather overcoat. She grips her arm tightly against her body, careful not to agitate the stitches, and she stands to her feet. Unfortunately, yesterday's blood loss sends the room spinning. Pitching forward, the floor rushes to greet her. Loki moves to her side in the blink of an eye, his arms pulling her into his chest before she collapses.

"You should stay in bed," he murmurs, green eyes marked with uncharacteristic concern.

Anna's fists ball up against his chest, pushing weakly against his armor, as she shakes her head. A curtain of brown hair falls in front of her face, and only one blue eye is visible. She stops struggling, breathing heavy, and rests for a moment against him. Somehow, his nearness seems to cool her down. Well, physically at least. Inside, everything is in turmoil as she struggles against the man responsible for so much devastation.

"Let me go," she says simply, refusing to look him in the eyes.

Loki stares at her for a moment, resisting the urge to tuck the stray hair behind her ear, before releasing her. She sways for a moment, and Jane steps beside her to wrap a protective arm around her waist. The two women stand within his grasp, Anna a few inches taller than Jane, but she refuses to look up at him. Jane, however, is staring at him with fire in her large brown eyes. He can tell why Thor would be attracted to this stubborn mortal. She's quite brave, albeit foolish.

"You're not welcome here," Jane growls.

"I'm not leaving," Loki says, settling back in his armchair with an amused look on his face. "Anna is under my protection."

He picks up his book, cracking it open yet again. Jane rolls her eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh.

"This is like dealing with a child," she mumbles to herself. "You're a child."

Loki laughs. His smile reaches his sparkling emerald eyes, teeth are a brilliant white against his thin lips curled upward. Anna hazards a glance at him at the sound, her icy blue glare shooting daggers at his apparent mirth.

"I don't need your protection," she says with a frown.

"Because you've done so well on your own?" Loki chuckles again. "Or have you forgotten that yesterday's fiasco at Stark Tower was the second time you've been caught in the crossfire in as many days?"

Jerking away from Jane, Anna storms toward Loki and rips the book out of his hand. It flies across the room, smashing into a lamp, and setting off a burst of light before the room goes dark. The small curtained window does little to brighten the room, so Loki is drenched in darkness as he rises slowly from the chair.

"Take heed, mortal," he whispers to Anna, his tone deadly. "You will not survive long without my assistance. Provoke me, and you'll cease to exist before your next breath."

A chill runs down Anna's spine. His green eyes seem to glow at her in the dark, and his face is near enough to hers that she can feel his breath against her skin. Her left hand is clenched tightly by her side as she stares up at the Asgardian. Somewhere behind her, Jane is frozen in place, likely terrified by Loki's threats. Against her better judgement, Anna says nothing and turns on her heels slowly to leave Loki in the shadows.

"A sensible decision," Loki quips once her back is turned.

She whirls around with her hair whipping against her face as her left fist collides with Loki's jaw. Her knuckles crack with the impact, like wood snapping against steel, and the shock throws both of them backward. Jane steadies Anna, who shakes her injured hand as she hisses from the pain. Loki massages his face, eyes wide, as he takes in the brunette's fierce look of rage. He certainly didn't predict that reaction, nor did he expect her punch to actually hurt.

"I  _hate_  you," she fumes, tears creeping out from the corners of her blue eyes. 


	24. Painful Memories

**ARM SECURELY WRAPPED**  around the other woman's waist, Jane guides Anna out of the small bedroom and toward her lab. She's still astonished after witnessing her punch Loki, as well as by the fact that the Asgardian god did not retaliate. Somehow, he seemed just as shocked by the blow as Jane. Whoever Anna was, Jane can't help but respect the young British woman.

"I'm sorry about that," Anna says, pulling away from Jane and interrupting her thoughts.

They're in a small lab filled to the brim with every kind of equipment the astrophysicist could possibly dream of, as well as several high-tech computers. Anna snags a stool in front of a screen, her face drained of blood from both the effort of the walk (and punch) and the emotions that followed.

"It's fine," Jane reassures. "Really, I've never even met him, but I already knew he was a dick. He deserved it."

Anna shakes her head.

"Regardless, I shouldn't have lashed out like that," she tells Jane firmly. "Our actions are what separate men from monsters. What I just did...I'm no better than him."

"That's not true," Jane snorts, cracking a grin. "He's a murderer. You decked him in the jaw. I would hardly call that equal."

Anna allows her lips to curl into a small smile, "Perhaps, but I wanted to do more."

Jane pulls up a stool next to her, plopping down on it and pulling her thick sweater over her head. She's wearing a grey v-neck long sleeve shirt underneath, and she tosses the bunched up sweater onto a small sofa against the wall. Running her hand through her hair, she lifts an eyebrow at Anna.

"Spill it," she instructs. "I don't even know who you are - let alone why you're really here - and I've watched you attack a god and feel  _sorry_  for it."

Anna inhales deeply, glancing around the sparsely decorated room. It's cold and bare - clearly a room meant for scientific pursuits - but something about the way Jane is leaning toward her makes her feel cozy. The other woman's big brown eyes stare at her in a completely unassuming manner. If it weren't for the tall, black-haired man just down the corridor, she would feel completely safe here somehow.

"I'm a journalist," Anna explains. "I...um...I was tangled up in this mess with Mr. Stark in Istanbul, and he asked me to help figure it out."

"Tangled up how?" Jane asks.

Anna frowns, "I'd rather not say."

Her thoughts flash to Rifat, dead on the streets of Istanbul after Tony shot him, as well as to the photographs of his murdered family. She winces at the memory, squeezing her blue eyes shut as if closing them will close the door on the pain. When she opens them again, Jane is still staring straight at her. There is no judgement in her eyes, only curiosity and a hint of what Anna recognizes as pity.

"Stark Tower was raided," Anna continues. "I was shot. Thor told Loki to take me away, find out what was happening. I think he meant to join us, but Dr. Banner...he, um...got angry."

Jane nods in understanding. She'd met Bruce once or twice before, and it still fascinated her how such a mild-mannered man could turn into the green rage monster known less-than-affectionately as the Hulk.

"So, why Loki?" Jane asks. "Why did he bring you here? And why did you hit him? Not that I didn't enjoy it - I did - but, while he is a jackass, I'm not quite sure I understand your anger toward him."

Anna's eyes widen for a moment before turning to stare daggers into the ground. If it weren't for her shoulders moving with every measured breath, Jane might've thought she'd turned into a statue at the question.

"I'm sorry," the astrophysicist mumbles. "You don't have to answer th--"

"No," Anna cuts her off with a wave of her uninjured arm. "It's fine. I didn't...they never..."

Her voice trails, and she bites her lip to prevent a fresh wave of tears from springing up in her eyes. Before this week, she'd never cried this much before in her life. Suddenly she was a weeping angel, and it wasn't exactly pleasant. Not that the murderous statues on Doctor Who are fun.

Jane places a hand on Anna's knee.

"You lost someone," she concludes, speaking softly. "In New York."

Anna nods, refusing to lift her eyes to meet the other woman's gaze. She's successfully held back tears for the moment, but she knows that the second she sees another pair of eyes staring piteously into her own she'll lose it. Even after it happened, after she discovered that her best friend had died in the Battle of New York, she hardly shed more than a few tears at the news. None of it seemed real. Instead, she threw herself into work and travel, hardly allowing for a breath, constantly moving from one thing to the next.

What happened in Istanbul was no different. It seems like she was on the go from the moment it happened, aside from a brief respite on the flight to New York, and she'd yet to find the time to process everything from the past few months. Part of her hoped she would never find the time, but she knows that punching Loki meant her tough façade is cracked. Now, she can feel the pain, rage, and despair coursing through her veins like a poison. It made her blood boil to think of him living and breathing a few rooms down while so many - including someone so close to her - would never see the light of day again.

"I'm sorry," Jane whispers, unsure of what else to say.

"It's...it's okay," Anna replies, taking a few slow breaths before looking up at the other woman and struggling to maintain composure. "He was in New York on assignment when he...when it happened. When my fiancé was killed."       


	25. What's Next?

**LOKI SUCKS IN A BREATH** , steeling his face from the shock of what he just overheard in the other room. After giving the two women a moment to cool off, he followed them toward the lab only to catch the end of Anna's explanation of her animosity toward him.

He killed her betrothed.

The proximity to the destruction he caused in New York gives him an unsettled feeling, one he isn't sure he's experienced before. Regret? Perhaps. After spending day after day in a threadbare Asgardian prison, he allowed himself to question his actions, but...this is something deeper.

Running a hand through his long black hair, he considers rushing into the room and filling it with exorbitant apologies. Part of him craves to profess his innocence, declare Thanos as the mastermind of the entire plot, seek forgiveness for his actions. His pride demands otherwise. While he acted not completely of his own accord during the Battle of New York, he had yet to admit such to anyone. His own weakness made him vulnerable to Thanos' manipulation, to his treachery, and he refused to admit that weakness to anyone but himself.

Instead, he clears his throat and enters the room with a blank face.

Anna turns to him instantly, almost as if she can feel a chill in the air from his presence, her face like stone. Her jaw is clenched, her eyes are dark, and her left fist curls tightly into itself. Rage boils beneath the surface, that much Loki can see, and he can't help but smirk at her obvious reaction to his presence.

"Are you finished?" He asks, injecting a sense of boredom into every word.

Jane whips around at the sound of his voice, "Go to hell."

"Believe me," Loki snarls. "I'm already there."

The astrophysicist growls, slipping from her perch and braving a step toward him, before Anna reaches out and grabs her arm. Careful not to lose her balance, she tugs Jane backward.

"Don't," Anna instructs, her lips barely moving.

After releasing Jane's arm, she clutches her right arm to herself as she stands and crosses the room to stop in front of Loki. A strand of dark brown hair falls across her eyes, and he resists the urge to tuck it behind her ear. The woman in front of him is a walking contradiction - she stares at him fiercely, a sweltering volcano of emotion that screams strength, while her corporeal existence speaks of fragility. It's as if her body has not yet discovered the strength that is embedded deep within her very being.

"What do you want?" She asks, drawing him from his thoughts.

He frowns, "We are wasting time on trivialities. I care not of your opinion of me, nor do I particularly wish to be in your company. I am certain you share my sentiments. Unfortunately, neither of us is in a position to dispute the current circumstance, and I would like to end this enterprise as soon as possible. Are we in agreement?"

She stares at him for a moment, her blue eyes scanning his face carefully. He narrows his green eyes at her, holding her gaze, before she stares down at the ground.

"We are," she murmurs, inspecting the floor as she searches for the words to speak. After a few moments, she lifts her chin to face him. "Anything else,  _your highness_? Or is there a better way to address a failed and fallen prince?"

Loki lifts an eyebrow, surprised that the small mortal in front of him has the gall to make such a speech, especially given his reputation. Even Jane seems shocked by it as she watches the interaction, completely amazed by the Anna's quiet strength.

"We leave in an hour," Loki replies coldly, his green eyes drilling into her icy glare.

He turns, disappearing as quickly as he arrived. Jane takes a step toward Anna, but she holds up a hand to stop her approach.

"I need a moment," Anna whispers. "Alone."

"Of course," Jane nods, heading toward the corridor Loki disappeared into. "Absolutely. I'll be sure to keep him away from you until you're ready to leave."

Anna nods, "Thanks."

The astrophysicist smiles weakly before turning on her heels, leaving Anna alone in the lab. For a few moments, she remains cemented to the floor where she stands, unable to move. Her chest rises and falls as she takes a deep breath, willing herself into action.

Moving across the room, she sits in front of a small laptop running through calculations in the corner. A glance over her shoulder confirms that she is indeed alone, and she tabs into an internet browser to open an incognito window. She opens her email, ignoring the hoards of unread messages - most of which are from her editor - and clicking the second message from the top.

FROM: E  
SUBJECT: Our mutual friend

MESSAGE: [blank]

She stares at the screen for a moment, allowing her brain to process through what she is about to do. After a few seconds have passed, she clicks "Reply," then sends her response.

FROM: Anna R.  
SUBJECT: Re: Our mutual friend

MESSAGE: What's next?


	26. Disbanded

**"I STILL THINK**  this is a bad idea," Jane says, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she watches Anna pull on a pair of borrowed boots.

The woman in front of her has freshly showered and changed out of her ratty, blood-stained clothing into a clean pair of jeans and a navy sweater, her brown hair drying naturally. Loki is in the other room waiting for them, no doubt growing more and more impatient with the minute, planning their departure from Switzerland.

"I'll be fine," Anna tells her, grateful for her concern, as she secures the laces.

"You were  _shot,_ " Jane replies, emphasizing the last word. "Less than twenty-four hours ago. Not only that, you're about to go off - God knows where - with Loki, the biggest asshole on more than one planet, with no plans, n--"

"I know," Anna cuts her off. "Trust me, I know. I'm not entirely thrilled about this situation myself, but I don't have a choice."

Jane frowns, dropping her arms and crossing the room to sit next to Anna on the small bed. Loki's overcoat is still sitting on top of the pile of discarded blankets, a mass of black and green staring up at her. She stares at it a moment before turning to face Anna.

"I'm just worried," she admits. "After what Loki did to Thor - to New York - I don't want anyone else to get hurt."

Anna nods, "I know. I don't either. That's why I have to do this."

She stands, carefully shrugging her injured arm into the leather jacket Jane lent her. The pain is nowhere near as overwhelming as it was earlier, and she's already able to move the arm without daggers of pain shooting through her arm. Whatever Loki did to speed up the healing is clearly working, so as much as she hates him, she has to give him that.

A knock at the door interrupts their conversation, and Anna opens it to find herself face-to-face with Loki. His face is drawn and pale, and his emerald eyes lack their mischievous sparkle.

"What?" Anna demands.

He looks at her, then at Jane. Whatever semblance of composure he had is cracking, and Anna's frustration with his presence is rapidly being replaced with concern. Something is upsetting Loki, which means something big is happening.

"What is it?" Jane asks, standing from the bed and coming to stand behind Anna.

"...Thor," Loki replies, his lips barely moving.

Jane pales, "What about him?"

"He's been...he's been taken," Loki tells them.

"What?!" Anna and Jane both exclaim.

"Apparently the Avengers have been disbanded," Loki explains. "It's all over the news. Stark is in prison, and Thor as well. They had Banner, but he escaped. No word has come from the Captain or the others."

Anna shakes her head, "But why? What changed?"

"I do not know entirely," Loki explains. "The television was on in the other room. They said...it..."

His voice trails.

"What?" Anna demands. "What did they say?"

Loki frowns, "They're calling for execution. The World Security Council has agreed."

Jane stumbles backward, and Anna catches her before she collapses. Lowering her into the bed, Anna kneels in front of her.

"No," Jane mumbles. "They can't. They wouldn't."

Anna grabs Jane's hands, "Hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay."

She turns to Loki, shooting daggers at him with her blue eyes. He looks stunned himself, as if he's barely able to process the news, and he clearly isn't certain what he should be doing next.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Anna snaps at him. "You can stop pretending to be surprised. From what I've gathered, you're likely ecstatic at the thought of your brother's death - along with the rest of the Avengers - because they'll finally be out of your way."

Jane chokes back a sob at the mention of Thor's possible death, and Loki's green eyes flash angrily at Anna. He flies across the room, jerking her to her feet roughly, and slams her against the wall. His left hand squeezes into her injured shoulder while he uses his right to pin her other hand to her side. The cold seeping out of his skin against hers burns, the pain shooting up her arm.

"Take care of how you speak, mortal," he snarls. "Without your precious Avengers, I might snap your neck in a moment."

A brief look of fear crosses her face before her eyes settle back into a glare. Jane stands, attempting to pull at Loki's arm between sobs, but he swats her away like an annoying fly and focuses his attention on Anna. She can see rage boiling deep within him, along with other emotions that she cannot identify.

"Do not presume to know me, if you value your life," Loki whispers so Jane cannot overhear him, venom dripping from every word.

He drops her without warning, her bullet wound throbbing. She glances down at her left hand, which is now bright red from his touch. The skin is beyond tender, and she shakes as she lifts her hand to press against her bullet wound. His threat frightens her, more than she was willing to admit, especially without the protection of the Avengers to keep him in line.

In that moment, she realizes that Jane is absolutely right.

Anna has no idea what she's going to do now. 

 


	27. Truth + Lies

**"WE MUST GO,"**  Loki snaps at Anna, nearly pushing Jane over to snatch his overcoat from the bed.

He pulls it on over the remainder of his armor in one swift motion, his tall form instantly more imposing by the addition of the long, black and green leather coat adorned with metal. Anna watches him with a sense of fear and fascination, both intrigued by the Asgardian god in front of her and completely frightened by who he is and what he's done - let alone what he is capable of doing in the future.

"Go where?" Anna asks, stepping after him into the hallway, still clutching her bullet wound as it screams with fresh pain.

News that The Avengers are being hunted down comes as a shock to her, something she never expected - nor wanted - to happen. Her thoughts flash back to Restitution, to the man in the suit - Magnus - and Eren, and what they said. What they told her.

 

_\----Flashback----_

 

_"You want me to go to New York? Confront Iron Man?" Anna spits out incredulously, staring at Eren in shock._

_He nods and takes a few steps across the room to sit next to her on the bed, taking her hands so they no longer fiddle with the edges of the comforter._

_"You're frightened, Anna," he replies. "You should be. We all should be afraid. Not simply because of Iron Man, but of all of The Avengers. They're an epidemic, seeping through society like a poison, slowly destroying the foundation of all that we hold dear. Peace. Security. Democracy. Who are we to have a voice when gods among men can enforce their will with an iron fist?"_

_She shakes her head, "They have no reason, no--"_

_"Power is far more intoxicating than any drug," Eren interrupts. "It corrupts even the most honest of men. Like Caesar, who began simply leading the Romans in many successful battles and introducing reforms widely popular with the general public, his reign foreshadowed the imminent death of the Republic."_

_He drops her hands, running his right hand behind his neck, and stares at the ground while Anna is left processing his words. Surely, they don't mean to do to The Avengers as was done to Caesar. Society has progressed, and the public would never allow such a thing to happen._

_"All we ask is for your presence in New York - in the tower," Eren reassures her, drawing her out of her thoughts. "We need eyes and ears, nothing more."_

_Anna wrings her fingers together tightly, thinking back to Rifat's body hitting the streets of Istanbul and the photo of his daughters, Kalila and Miriam, immortalized in a smiling photograph only to lie dead in the ground far before their time. She had to do something - anything - to keep herself from going mad. Her life had been a whirlwind of tragedy, and she could hardly hold herself together. Instead, she continued moving, just as she knew she had to do now._

 

_\----End Flashback----_

 

"What the hell do you intend to do?" Anna questions, her voice low, to keep Jane from overhearing them in the hallway.

Loki doesn't respond.

"Loki?" Anna's voice is hesitant. "What is your plan? The Avengers are in shambles. If the World Security Council is calling for  _their_  deaths, I can only imagine what the powers that be want for you."

He turns to face her, anger and pain flashing in his emerald eyes, and she is taken aback by the realization that he is just as upset by the possibility of his brother's death as Jane. The two of them stand close in the corridor, merely an arm's length apart, and she can see the conflicting emotions playing across his face even in the shadows.

"You're worried about your brother," she says softly.

"He's not my brother," Loki snarls. "His death would bring only joy to me."

Anna scoffs, "You might want everyone else to believe that - hell, you might even be trying to convince yourself of that - but you don't fool me."

He frowns, crossing his arms in front of his chest as she hazards another step toward him. His green eyes flicker down to her injured bicep, a hint of concern crossing his forehead before flashing back to indifference, as she lifts her chin and stares at him defiantly. Anna stands at least six inches below him, but she pulls herself up to her full height as she analyzes him.

"You're lying," she says, barely above a whisper. "All of this - it's a lie."

Loki inhales deeply, his chest rising as he struggles to maintain composure as the woman across from him so accurately sees through his facade. He is concerned for Thor's well-being, more than he'd like to admit, and the concept of The Avengers facing death unsettles him greatly. While they had fought bitterly in New York, a piece of him still clings to the belief in the sanctity of innocent life, and his instincts tell him that this is only the beginning.

 


	28. Back Again

**A LIGHT FLICKS ON**  in the corridor, and Loki grabs Anna's uninjured arm and pulls her into an empty bedroom. The door closes with a muffled 'click' moments before a scientist walks past the room, followed by two sets of unidentified footsteps. Voices can be heard coming from the direction of Jane's room, where the astrophysicist is still processing the news of Thor's imprisonment.

"What's happening?" Anna asks.

Loki shushes her, his hand flying to cover her mouth as he shoots her an icy glare.

"I'm listening," he hisses, turning back to the door.

"No! I don't know anything," Jane's voice echoes through the building, the panic in her voice evident. "Let go of me!"

Muffled voices follow, and Anna can't make out what they are saying. Loki, however, tenses up, dropping his hand from Anna's mouth, and steps away from the door. He leaves his other hand on her arm, tugging her with him as they move to the other side of the room. It's decorated similarly to the room she woke up in, hardly more than a bed and simple furnishings, and the afternoon sun streams in through the small window by which they stand.

"Loki," Anna starts.

"We must go," he interrupts, running a hand through his long, slicked-back hair. "We haven't a moment to lose."

Anna's eyebrows knit together in confusion, "Why? What's happening?"

Loki shakes his head, refusing to meet the small brunette's questioning gaze. Whatever he overheard with Jane Foster was enough to unsettle him even further, and Anna can't help but think that he looks like a wild animal trapped and desperate to escape his cage.

"Fine," she concludes. "Then let's get Jane and go."

She takes a step back toward the door, but Loki's grip on her arm tightens. His hand slides down to her wrist, pulling her gently back toward him. Instinctively, she resists, but his fingers are like cool steel against her skin, trapping her to him, and she is nowhere near strong enough to resist him. When she whips her head around, fire in her clear blue eyes, he meets her gaze with a calm sense of resolution.

"Anna," his voice is hardly more than a whisper. "I am sorry."

His lips begin to move while low, hushed tones escape his mouth that she can't fully hear or understand. Within seconds, a cloud of green mist envelops them. Initially, she is completely dumbfounded, unsure of how to react, before sheer panic sets in. A second later, she realizes that he is using magic to transport them away, again, and a familiar series of tugs and uncomfortable compressions on her body overwhelms her senses before she stumbles forward and falls to the ground.

Her fingers do not find the cold tile beneath them, but instead rough pavement scrapes her palms and scorches her skin.  Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment, she waits for her sense of balance to return before blinking them open and taking in the blinding sunlight.

"Are you well?" Loki's voice breaks through her bewilderment, and she is able to focus on his dark silhouette against the white-hot sky.

"What did you do?" Anna croaks, glaring at his outstretched hand as she quickly moves to cradle her injured arm. "Where did you take us?"

Loki's mouth is set in a thin line, clearly unamused, "Istanbul."

Anna's eyes widen in shock, as the rest of her surroundings begin to make sense. From the din of Istanbul traffic to the bright summer sun, for a moment she wonders if she ever left the bustling metropolis. Maybe this entire mess was a dream, a horrible nightmare.

Then again, even her nightmares probably wouldn't include the mischievous Asgardian god who is currently lifting her to her feet against her protestations.

"I can stand on my own," she snaps, shaking off his helping hands. "Why the bloody hell did you bring me here? Why did we leave Jane?"

He sighs, "Jane Foster is safer without us. Not only that, the voices we heard - they were questioning her about Thor. About...others."

"Like you?" Anna asks. "How did they know about us? How did they find us?"

"I am not convinced they knew of our presence," Loki reassures her. "However, it would have left Jane in grave danger should they discover she was harboring a  _war criminal_ , as the inhabitants of this planet are so apt to label me. Both of you would have been taken prisoner through association, and I could not warrant the risk."

The anger bubbling up in Anna's chest dissipates. While she had no desire to be in Istanbul, especially so soon after Rifat's death, she recognizes that Loki made the right choice for Jane's safety - and even her own - which is more than she thought him capable of.

"I, um..." Anna stutters. "Thank you."

Loki nods ever-so-slightly, his eyes sparkling with amusement. However much of a jackass he might be, he is clearly enjoying this. Maybe not being the hero, no. Anna isn't yet sure if he is capable of such goodness. Making her suck her anger back into herself and showing the man she loathes gratitude, however, is bringing Loki much joy.

"What do we do now?" Anna asks, not attempting to mask her annoyance with him.

"We find more information on the man Stark killed," Loki states simply. "Determine who would want him dead - if any - and perhaps discover how they tricked the metal man into murdering him."

A shiver runs down Anna's spine at the thought, her eyes instantly snapping to the ground as her mind replays Rifat's death yet again. She wants nothing more than to make Tony Stark pay for the man's death, but something is eating at her insides about the entire situation. Given what she was told by Eren at Restitution, and now what she's learned from the Avengers, her brain is racing to unfold the truth of it all. Whatever is happening, whatever Tony did - it doesn't add up.

Something isn't right. 

 


	29. Persuasion

**THE SUMMER HEAT**  in Istanbul beats down on them as the sun sets beyond the horizon.

Loki and Anna spent the last few hours camped out at a small internet cafe, where she dug around Twitter for any mention of Rifat. He'd initially connected with her via the social network, so naturally she returned to it first. The Asgardian god sat next to her, his green eyes burning into her as he watched her type on the keyboard with amazement. He was familiar with Midgardian technology after several brief stints on Earth, but the lack of such devices on Asgard meant they are always uniquely captivating. Anna laughed at him when he asked her the purpose of the mouse, demonstrating how it moved the tiny white arrow around the screen and allowed her to select items.

Finally, after scouring the internet for anyone connected to Rifat and sending out a few queries, the two returned to the streets.

"What now?" Loki asks her, rubbing a hand over the back of his sweat-drenched neck.

Upon their arrival in the Turkish city, he used his magic to trade his traditional Asgardian armor for a dark green cotton button down and black slacks, allowing him to attempt to blend in. However, with his pale skin - flushed pink from exertion - and height, he and Anna stick out like a sore thumb in the sticky heat of the evening.

Although he hates to admit it, his Jötunn heritage makes these temperatures nigh unbearable. Anna, on the other hand, looks completely cool in jeans and a black tank top. She'd discarded the navy sweater Jane gave her in the cafe bathroom, and she opted to hold the leather jacket over one arm as they walk down the street instead of allowing Loki to charm it away with magic.

"Now, we wait," Anna says with a sigh.

They walked in silence for a few paces, heading north to who knows where, before Loki snags her hand and pulls her down a tiny side street to the left.

"What are you doing?" She demands, tugging against his grip.

He smirks, "You said we must wait. You never specified where."

She narrows her eyes at him, forgetting to resist him for a moment, before following where his gaze is pointing them. Straight ahead of them is a gorgeous neo-classical building with red awnings covering the first floor windows. In all of its splendor, the Pera Palace Hotel - also known as the oldest hotel in Istanbul - is the only thing Anna can see for a split second.

"Loki," she gasps in awe. "We can't. We don't have any money. I left my credit card at the Tower. We were lucky enough to convince the manager of the internet cafe to let us use a computer as long as we did."

"We can," Loki insists, dropping her hand and pressing his palm into the small of her back to guide her forward.

"How?" She turns to him, confusion written all over her delicate features.

The Asgardian laughs, "Persuasion, my dear."

"You mean magic," she replies with a frown. "You're going to steal."

Loki lifts an eyebrow, his green eyes peering into Anna's blue ones. Her eyebrows are knitted together in a serious expression, clearly intending to convince him against this by voicing her disapproval, but Loki can't help but laugh at her reaction.

"Borrowing," he tells her. "If a room happens to be unoccupied, we are simply doing the hotel a service."

"By making them do more work!" Anna insists, hugging her injured arm to her chest.

He sighs, "Yes. More work. Work that - if I'm not mistaken - will provide employees with ample wages to compensate their valiant efforts. We are simply increasing their pay. You can hardly think that a crime, or do you not want to see the lesser mortals succeeding?"

Anna huffs at his logic, turning away from him, and storming toward the hotel. There is no arguing with the man, especially when he has such twisted logic that turns  _her_  into the bad guy. Loki laughs at her back, which only fuels her frustration as she picks up the pace. He catches her in a few long strides as they come to the end of the side street, now standing on the sidewalk across from the hotel's grand exterior.

"Shall we?" He asks, a smug smile plastered across his face.

Rolling her eyes, Anna shakes her head and steps onto the street to check traffic before crossing. A white van flies toward them, and she looks back at Loki while waiting for it to pass. Her eyes land on his, sheer panic replacing his smile, as her world goes black.

Rough hands grab her, causing her wounded arm to scream with pain as she lets out a muffled cry through the black hood. Her wrists twist behind her, quickly bound with zip ties, and she is tossed like a sack of flour into what she assumes is the back of a vehicle. Loki's cry of pain follows, along with a sickening thud, as the unconscious Asgardian is somehow bested by a squad of militants and thrown into the van next to her.

 


	30. Volunteered

**THE BLACK BAG**  jerks off Anna's head as abruptly as it was put on, her eyes adjusting to the sudden influx of light. Blinking wildly as her vision adjusts, she takes in the two men in body armor sitting on either side of her, guns resting casually across their laps. Her eyes widen when one of them makes eye contact with her, so she snaps her gaze forward to land on Loki's unconscious form.

There's no way four men took out an Asgardian god, she realizes, so there must be more men following them. Any chance of escape is dwindling, not that Anna could do much on her own anyway with her hands zip tied behind her back. The plastic cuts into her wrists as she squirms, testing the pressure of the bonds before giving up.

"Loki," she whispers, inching toward him.

A thick strand of black hair covers his face. His expression is almost peaceful, no trace of his omnipresent smirk anywhere, and she would assume he is dreaming pleasantly if it weren't for the large red gash down his left cheekbone, seeping blood. If not for the whole "kidnapped" thing, Anna would probably be surprised to discover he bleeds red.

"He won't be awake for some time," A voice draws her attention from the front passenger seat, and Anna glares at him before it dawns on her.

"Eren," she whispers.

Eren gives her a sad smile, pushing himself out of the seat and squeezing into the back of the van. He kneels in front of her, his eyes landing on the blood-stained bandage wrapped around her injured bicep. Everything in her tells her to twist away, hide the weakness from him, but she can't cover it with her hands tied behind her.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," he tells her, gesturing toward the wound. "Once we heard you were in Istanbul, we had to act quickly."

Anna's eyebrows furrow together, "What do you mean? How did you know we were here?"

"That is a story for another time," Eren replies. "For now, let's release those bonds, shall we?"

He motions to one of the statuesque guards, who leans forward and flicks out a knife to cut Anna's hands free. She jerks away from him, rubbing her wrists carefully, before turning back to Eren.

The Asgardian crumpled next to her shifts, and alarm flashes in Eren's eyes. The rest of the guards tense, guns suddenly trained on Loki, and Anna quickly moves to brush the hair out of his eyes.

"Loki?" She murmurs, praying to see his emerald green eyes stare back at her.

He moans, twisting uncomfortably. Anna sees that heavy metal chains bind both his hands and feet. They clang loudly against the floor of the van, and she frowns. Eren seems to relax ever-so-slightly, glad that the god of mischief isn't awake before they arrive at their destination. He nods at the guards to lower their weapons.

"What the hell is going on here?" Anna demands, blue eyes blazing at Eren. "What did you do to him?"

"It's all part of our plan," Eren tells her. "We talked about this."

"Kidnapping?" Anna scoffs.

He shakes his head, "Neutralizing the threat."

Anna seethes in anger, her fists balled up tightly next to her. Part of her wants to launch herself at Eren, but with so many armed guards she would hardly be able to lay a finger on him before being incapacitated - perhaps permanently. She glances down at Loki, the man who killed her fiance, and a pang of guilt tightens in her chest.

"This isn't what we talked about," she spits out. "This wasn't the plan."

Eren laughs, "What did you expect? That we'd send flowers and friendly messages to persuade the Avengers to disappear? Don't be naive. Whether you were aware of it or not, this was always the plan."

"You..." she stutters, grasping for words. "You lied to me. I didn't think anyone would get hurt. I thought you wanted to stop them. Implement some sort of control, some--"

"We never lied to you," Eren cuts her off. "You heard what you wanted to hear. Our goal was always to disassemble the Avengers, whatever the cost."

Her thoughts flash to Pepper Potts, the woman who was so kind to her during her short stay at Stark Tower. She had been taken to manipulate Tony, no doubt by Restitution, which meant she was probably still in custody. Once they had Iron Man, letting her go would only give him motivation to escape. Keeping her, however, would ensure that Tony Stark would do whatever they wanted.

"Jane," she whispers, her eyes wide. "You were tracking me. I didn't really pass out, did I? You drugged me, did something to me."

Eren nods, "We injected a nanotracker into your forearm, yes. It was vital that we follow your every move, waiting for you to lead us to the rest of the Avengers."

Tears well up in the corner of her eyes, but Anna forces them away. Restitution must have Jane in order to manipulate Thor, otherwise they never would've been able to hold the god. Bruce Banner escaped, which gave her hope, but there was little he could do alone to help the others. She didn't meet the other three Avengers in New York - Captain America, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye - but she knows that with both Thor and Iron Man taken, the team must be suffering.

"You used me," Anna hisses, rage boiling inside of her. "How dare you? How could you do this to--"

The van stops and the doors swing open to reveal Magnus, his eyes narrowed at her. One hand is tucked in his pocket, the other removing the earpiece that matches the one in Eren's ear. He's obviously been listening to their entire conversation.

"No, my dear," Magnus tells Anna. "You volunteered."

 


	31. Returned

**EREN LEADS ANNA**  out of the van, his grip on her uninjured arm tight. Stepping out into the inky darkness of the warm Istanbul night, she recognizes the same factory building that Eren brought her to before. Unfortunately, she was so distraught after Rifat's death that she couldn't remember where it was - or, more specifically - how to get out of here.

She glances over her shoulder to see Loki unceremoniously removed from the van, his feet dragging on the ground as several men struggle to transport the Asgardian god. Clearly, he's heavier than his lithe, muscular frame suggests.

Ahead of her, Magnus swings open the familiar metal door as they follow him into the now-empty factory floor. Machinery lies dormant, remnants of the workers sprinkled throughout the production line. They must close in the late afternoon instead of operating at all hours, allowing their employees to see them in a positive light whilst providing enough secrecy to cloak the underground facilities.

Certainly makes it easier to kidnap people without anyone here to notice.

Soon they are downstairs, and Loki is deposited abruptly into a heavily guarded cell. The drab concrete walls flow into an empty floor, where the sole furnishing is the threadbare cot upon which his unconscious body is thrown.

Eren pushes her down into a frigid metal chair facing the window looking into the cell, the floor to ceiling glass reinforced with a layer of metal bars. She wonders if it's a one-way mirror as a guard rushes in nervously, his hands shaking as he glances back at the glass, before he clamps strange-looking cuffs onto Loki's wrists.

"What the hell is going on?" Anna says, teeth clenched as she watches Loki shift uncomfortably.

Given his temper, she knows the god is going to be  _pissed_  when he wakes up.

"We had to maintain pretenses," Magnus explains casually. His hands are tucked into the pockets of his impeccably tailored suit, a crimson pocket square matching his thin, exquisitely red tie.

"Pretenses?" Anna scoffs. "You mean kidnapping me? It's not fake considering I have no bloody clue what's happening."

Magnus smirks, "I assure you, my dear, this is all according to plan."

"You keep saying that," replies Anna, her eyes flicking at Eren before returning to the man in the suit. "I was not made aware of any such  _plan._ "

"Indeed you were," he retorts. "We discussed it. How Iron Man and his band of misfits have too much power. How the world is suffering from the tyrannical rule of these few mighty  _heroes_  who will someday run society into the ground. How we must do everything in our power to stop them. If I remember correctly, you were more than willing to voice your hatred for them upon our last encounter. Have your sentiments changed so much over the last few days?"

"I...no...I don't," Anna rambles nervously, gripping the edge of the seat with one hand.

Magnus laughs. Eren shifts in the corner of the room as he crosses his arms and leans against the wall to observe them. Anna glances through the glass at Loki, mentally willing him to return to consciousness and deflect attention from her. Guilt is rapidly filling her chest, a lead-filled cavity expanding and weighing her down, as she realizes what she has done. In her emotional response to Rifat's death, she unwittingly aligned herself with these men - these monsters - in a plot to capture and kill the Avengers. Their deaths, Loki's death, will be on her conscience.

She nearly winces at the last thought, part of her shaken to the core at the prospect of the raven-haired god leaving her and the other part shocked that she would care. Yesterday she would've been more than willing to pull the trigger herself on her fiance's murderer. Now, she isn't certain. After all - are they really all that different? In this moment, she feels just as bad - if not worse - than him.

As if he could read her concern for Loki, Magnus motions for a guard to approach.

"Wake him," he instructs, reaching into his breast pocket and retrieving a syringe filled with a golden liquid.

The man nods, accepting the syringe and punching in the code to open the cell door. He crosses the room quickly, uncapping the syringe and jabbing it into Loki's neck. Before Anna could take a breath, Loki's green eyes snap open - landing on the shocked guard - and his cuffed hands wrap around the man's neck.

With unparalleled strength, he tosses the man across the cell like a rag doll. The dense thud of the guard's body slamming into the concrete makes Anna shiver, blood streaking down the grey wall as his unconscious body hits the floor. Unconscious or dead, that is.

Loki's blazing eyes whip to his right as he abruptly stands to his feet, his fire-filled gaze landing on Anna. The rest of his body is not yet alert so he teeters for a moment before collapsing to the floor, breaking eye contact for a brief moment before staring daggers back into her. Anna clings to her chair even tighter, her palm cutting against the sharp underside of the metal seat, as she resists every instinct to jump up and run to the glass. She cannot bear watching anyone suffer - even Loki - and her skin is crawling at the thought that he might think she is responsible for it.

For whatever reason, however, Magnus and Eren believe her to be on their side. She needs to keep up the charade, if not for her sake for Loki's.

A glance at Magnus reveals that his countenance is unchanged. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the death of one of his men, let alone by the fact that a supremely pissed off Asgardian god is a few feet from him separated by little more than glass and metal.

"Do it," Magnus says, and Anna watches as Eren nods at a man in the hallway behind us.

Clad in a white lab coat, the man hurries into the observation room to a touchscreen panel of controls on the far wall. Tapping on the screen, the lights flicker in the cell before clouds of gas roll into the room. Loki glances up at the billows of blue smoke before turning back to Anna. He pushes himself off the ground, moving slowly toward the glass, and slams a fist into it.

She jerks at the sound, but the glass remains unbroken. Loki's eyes widen with surprise, matching her own, as his fingers uncurl and press flat against the glass. Long, white fingers begin to slide down the window as the room continues to fill with the dense gas until Anna can no longer see anything but his hand. Within seconds, it too falls into the smoke.

"Stop," she croaks, her voice filled with emotion.

Magnus lifts an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

"Stop this," Anna repeats louder,  jumping up to the glass.

Tears fill her eyes as she narrows her eyes, searching for Loki, before turning to glare at Magnus. His face is still marked with indifference, as if he murders people every day. Purely acting off impulse, Anna launches herself at the man in the suit and tackles him to the floor. Eren is on top of her in a moment, his hands grabbing her shoulders and throwing her off his employer.

Throwing up her fists, Anna strikes at him with precision. He dodges her initial attack, only to be met with a powerful left hook to the temple. Dazed, he takes a step back, allowing her an opening to launch a series of jabs to his face and body followed by a kick to the ribs. Seething with rage, Anna lifts her left arm to deliver a final blow before a jolt of electricity shoots through her body.

Magnus stands behind her, a small taser in his hand, as she falls to her knees in front of him. The suited man pulls his crimson pocket square out, wiping a small dribble of blood from the corner of his mouth, before jabbing the taser into Anna's neck for a second time. She collapses to the floor, her body convulsing with pain, as he glances at the lab tech.

"Remove the gas," he tells the man before turning to Eren. "Put her in the cell with him."

The whirring of a fan begins to clear Loki's cell of the blue smoke, revealing his writhing body on the floor. Once the oxygen levels return to normal, Eren approaches Anna carefully and drags her over to the door. She struggles briefly, her mind screaming as her body fails to react, as the door slides open and she is tossed onto the floor next to Loki. Once the door to the cell seals behind her, she commands herself to roll onto her side.

Barely able to move an inch, she turns to face the Asgardian god.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, tears falling from her blue eyes as she watches his convulsions slow. "I'm so sorry."

 


	32. Who Are You?

**WHEN ANNA WAKES**  she finds herself curled on the cot in Loki's cell in the dark. Someone must have moved her from the floor where she passed out earlier. Shivering, she pushes herself upright to see Loki slouched against the concrete wall to her right. His eyes are closed, but she can tell by the furrow in his forehead that he is awake. Awake and not happy.

"Loki," Anna says softly, shifting to place her feet on the floor.

Ice cold concrete hits her bare skin, and she recoils into herself. They must've taken her shoes while she was out. A glance at Loki tells her they did the same to him. He's barefoot in a dark green button down and black trousers, his hands cuffed with thick shackles that likely limit his magic. Neither of them are dressed for the frigid temperatures of the cell, let alone sitting on the freezing concrete like he is at the moment.

"Aren't you cold?" She asks him.

Still no response. His eyes have yet to open, and Anna can't make out a single change in his facial expression in the dim lighting. Exhaling in frustration, she gingerly places her feet on the floor and stands - wavering slightly - before crossing the small cell to him.

"Loki," her voice is low as she reaches out to touch his hand where it rests on his knee.

"Do not touch me, worthless maggot," He jerks back, emerald eyes flying open to glare at her.

His words are laced with a venom Anna did not expect, and she unconsciously takes a step back from him. Breathing deeply to steel herself against his temper, she clutches her injured arm to herself and frowns.

"I'm  _trying_  to be nice," Anna replies, clearly annoyed. "I wanted to--"

Loki interrupts her with a scoff, "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" She asks. "We were just kidnapped! I watched them drag you into a cell and hurt you. I couldn't--"

" _We_  were kidnapped?" Loki asks incredulously, pushing himself off the floor. "We?!"

Anna steps back as Loki reaches his full height in front of her. She keeps her chin squared at him, trying to keep herself from cowering in his presence. With his disheveled appearance, wild hair, and piercing green eyes, Loki looks more intimidating now than he ever did fully decked in his armor.

"Yes, we," she replies shakily. "I didn't know this was going to happen."

Loki laughs cruelly, his smile stopping far beneath his rage-filled eyes.

"You betrayed us," he seethes, his shoulders shaking with emotion as he takes a step toward her. "You betrayed all of them. Stark. Banner.  _Thor_. If any harm comes to my brother, I will hold you personally accountable. I will see your heart ripped from your throat and fed to the dogs like the insignificant, feeble, slab of flesh you are. Not even the  _vermin_  will touch your corpse out of revulsion for what remains of you."

Eyes wide, Anna freezes as she absorbs Loki's threats. She was already racked with guilt over her actions, and his tirade isn't helping. If she had known what Magnus was planning - what he would do - she never would've agreed to get involved. Her emotions following Rifat's death got the best of her, fueling her irrational hatred of Iron Man, and the subsequent discovery that Loki was responsible for her fiance's death only fanned the flames of her rage.

"You have room to talk," Anna spits back at him, pushing down the guilt in her throat with misplaced anger. "How many people have you  _murdered_? How much blood is on your hands? You didn't seem to care much when you betrayed your own brother in the Battle of New York, and - from what Jane tells me - in New Mexico."

Loki closes the distance between them, his cuffed hands clutching her throat, as he slams her into the opposite wall. She cries out in pain as her head connects with the concrete first, scrambling with both hands to pull him off her. Tears spring to her eyes as she gasps for air, her large blue eyes searching Loki's for a hint of mercy.

Her knee connects with his groin, and he drops her as he stumbles backward. Even gods have sensitive areas, she notes, as she falls to the floor sucking in oxygen. Using the wall for support, she stands quickly before launching herself at Loki. He blocks her initial punch with his shackled forearms, and she manages to sneak a left hook to his jaw. Surprised, he grabs at her injured right arm and kicks her solidly in the stomach before striking her across the cheek.

Spitting blood, she pushes a strand of brown hair out of her eyes before running for him, swinging herself behind his back and whipping her legs up to lock around his head. Her momentum allows her to complete the move in a flash before returning upright - arm hooked around his neck - and throwing Loki to the floor.

"You... _killed_...my fiance," Anna fumes through clenched teeth as she straddles his chest, her hand at his throat prepared to deliver a final blow to render him unconscious.

The two stare at each other for a moment without speaking, chests heaving from effort, before Anna comprehends what just happened. Her hand falls limp by her side, and she jumps up with eyes wide from shock. She has no clue how she managed to fight Loki; her body simply acted on pure instinct. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, telling her that she could've done more, but she is clueless as to  _how_. Before the last few weeks, she'd never been in a fight in her life, and now she'd managed to stand her own on multiple occasions. 

"I...I'm sorry," she mumbles, taking several steps backward. "I didn't...I wasn't..."

Loki slowly sits upright, staring at her in disbelief. The unassuming brunette across from him just incapacitated him in less than two minutes, and now she stands across from him as if she is as surprised as he to discover herself capable of such a thing.

Her back hits the wall where he had pinned her only moments prior, and she slides to the floor in silence. Head pounding as her thoughts scramble for answers, she blinks at Loki. Unable to look away, his eyes remained locked with hers.

"Who are you?" Loki asks, stunned.


	33. Revelation

**ANNA STARES AT LOKI**  in disbelief. Whoever this Midgardian woman is who sits across him, he does not know, but she is not who she seemed to be when he met her. Not only did she betray Stark and the rest of the Avengers - a sin which Loki would probably forgive had she not implicated him as well - she was hiding something. No mere mortal should be capable of defending herself so successfully against him, even with his magic dampened by these blasted shackles.

"What?" She asks him, clearly confused. "I don't...What are you talking about?"

Loki frowns, "Don't act coy. It's clear you are a traitor, but now you're a warrior as well? Are you an assassin?"

"An...y-you think...I'm not an assassin," she babbles, clutching her injured arm.

Fresh blood seeps through the bandage, a vibrant crimson spreading slowly beneath her fingers. She must have torn her stitches during the fight. Part of him wants to cross the room and attend to her wounds, but he stubbornly refuses. It is a very small, easily ignored part of him.

"You have training," Loki asserts, narrowing his eyes as he studies her closely. "While unpracticed, your skills are superior to most warriors."

Anna shakes her head.

"No," her voice is tight. "I've never trained. I've never--"

Loki lifts an eyebrow as her voice falters. The brunette averts her gaze from his, searching the floor as her mind searches for answers. Shockingly enough, Loki can tell she is being truthful. Were he not the god of mischief and lies perhaps he would insist otherwise, but his superior instincts in deceit tell him that Anna speaks truth. Which means, if she has never trained yet fights with such ferocity, then perhaps the answer is that she simply does not  _remember_ her training.

"What of your past?" Loki questions, moving past the topic of training.

Perhaps the woman possesses memory gaps, indications of tampering with her mind, that would allow him to discover her origin.

"My past?" Anna glances up at him. "You think I'm lying."

He shakes his head, "On the contrary, I believe you. You believe that you have undergone no combat training. However, whether or not you remember such training is another topic entirely."

"That's ridiculous," replies Anna. "How could I not remember training? I can remember everything about my life from the time I was young. They're not false memories either, if such a thing exists, because I actually lived them. I have photographs, home videos, my parents. You can even go through the adoption records, school yearbooks, everything - it's all there."

Adoption? She was adopted? Loki raises an eyebrow at the thought. It has not been long since he discovered the nature of his own parentage, and he did not expect to share such an experience with Anna. He hardens himself at the thought. Now is not the time to find commonalities between the two of them. No, this woman is the cause of his imprisonment on this revolting planet. She is not a friend.

He exhales, wishing that his magic was not limited at the moment. If only he possessed his full abilities, he could search through her mind with ease and learn the truth that way. As it is, they seem to have arrived at an impasse. She cannot answer his questions in a manner that would be of use, and he can do nothing to circumvent that fact.

"I'm sorry," Anna's voice sounds small, pulling him from his thoughts.

Loki scoffs, "For what, pray tell?"

"I didn't mean for this to happen," she confesses, toying with the fabric of her jeans with one hand. "Any of it. The fight. Us. What happened to the others."

She inhales deeply, and Loki holds his tongue. Tilting his head slightly to one side, he waits for her to continue.

"After New York, after Cole..." her voice breaks at the name, leaving Loki to assume Cole to be her deceased fiance. "I was angry. I threw myself into my work, traveling nonstop. Accepting assignments no one else wanted. Then Rifat...I watched him die in front of me. Stark attacked us here, in Istanbul. Bullets barely missed me, and to watch an innocent man die...to hear that his family - his children - soon followed...I was furious."

His family? A pang of remorse for Anna fills his chest at the thought. Not only had she lost her lover, she was forced to watch the murder of this man at the hands of someone meant to protect the world. The news of this man's family's death only increases the blow. No child should suffer in such a way, and Anna clearly feels the weight of their deaths.

"I wanted revenge," she admits, her voice barely a whisper. "Eren saved me on the street that day, introduced me to these men - to their organization - that claimed they could help. They told me they simply wanted to prevent Stark and the Avengers from gaining too much power - from turning into tyrants - and I...I, um..."

"You agreed to help them," Loki concluded.

Anna nods, "They sent me to New York without any instructions other than to insert myself into the life of the man I was so quick to despise. I didn't want to do more - I was too frightened - but..I met you. I found out who you were. I hated you, so I sent them a message from Jane's computer asking to do more. I didn't think anything of it - I didn't know they would care about Jane. When we left, I had yet to hear back from them, I swear. They drugged me, put a tracker in me, before I went to New York. They used me to get to all of you."

She drops her forehead to her knees, bending them to pull them into herself. When she speaks, her voice is muffled but steady.

"I never thought this would happen. They must have Pepper still, they're using her to manipulate Tony, and I led them straight to Jane," she lifts her now tear-filled eyes to meet his, crystal clear blue boring deep into his heart. "I thought they were going to kill you. I tried to stop them. I tried to--"

Loki stands abruptly. She stops talking while he crosses the small distance between them in a few long strides and reaches down to pull her up to him. Inches separate them as she stands before him, guilt and fear etched all over her face, and he hesitates before pulling her into a tight hug. Her body tenses against his for a moment, then she melts into him. Sobs wrack her body, the sound muffled against his shoulder, and Loki holds her close while she cries.

He mutters comforting words into her ear, taking in the faint smell of patchouli coming off her skin. No stranger to having desires and emotions manipulated by a greater power, his heart aches for her. Uncharacteristically, he gently leans back and captures her chin between two fingers to pull her attention to him. She fights back tears, her blue eyes red, as he smiles down at her.

"We can fix this," he promises her.

 


	34. Bonding

**IT'S BEEN A DAY**  since they fought, and now Anna sits quietly on the cot while Loki kneels in front of her to check her injured arm once again. The wound has healed significantly, no doubt aided by his magic, but a few stitches popped from yesterday's excitement. Luckily, the injury is small enough now to close without fresh stitches - something both Anna and Loki are glad to discover - so Loki tears off a strip of fabric from the hem of his shirt and binds her arm.

"Thank you," Anna tells him, wincing as he pulls it tight. "Again."

Loki lifts an eyebrow, finishing the knot before shifting to sit next to her on the cot. He leans back so his body presses against the cool concrete wall, a comfort to his Jötunn skin, and smirks. If only Odin could see him now, trapped in a Midgardian prison, graciously administering aid to the mortal woman who betrayed him.

Maybe not so graciously, but nevertheless, it is a kindness that Loki's character rarely exhibits and Anna firmly believes she does not deserve. After a few moments of silence, Anna leans back next to him and clears her throat.

"Tell me about New York," she says, staring straight forward at the glass.

The observation room has been empty since their arrival, aside from the occasional visit from a guard who deposited a single piece of bread for them to share yesterday and another this morning. Loki insisted Anna eat the entire thing, citing her injury and his superior DNA, but she stubbornly refused - threatening not to eat a bite - unless he split it with her. After bickering for what seemed like ages, he finally split the bread and ate his portion in several fast bites before handing the other to her. Trapped in this cage, there is no use in arguing over such trivialities.

"There is nothing to tell," Loki murmurs as his eyelids shut.

Anna grimaces, "Well that's not true. C'mon, there's no one here. I won't say anything to anyone. I mean, they've got cameras on us - yeah - but...I just..."

"You want to know if I remember your fiance..." he finishes. "If I was the one to deliver the blow or if another did it."

"No, that's not it," Anna replies quickly. "I don't care about that. I mean, you're responsible either way, right?"

Loki snorts.

It's true, of course, he is responsible for the death of her fiance and so many others after the Battle of New York. The blood of many stain his hands, further drenching his monstrous soul in guilt, but he knows that they were not the first to die from his actions nor will they be the last. No, he is cursed to be a monster. He will never escape that fate, and he's long since given up trying to do so. 

"I meant why," Anna finishes. "Why come to Earth? Why all of the destruction?"

A lazy smirk tugs up the corners of his mouth, "A king requires a throne. This world was crying out for subjugation, and I - a gracious ruler - deemed to give it."

"Bullshit."

He opens one eye, glancing at the blue-eyed brunette.

"That's absolute shit, and we both know it," she says. "Jane told me you had a throne - a better one - while Thor was on Earth, and apparently you were the one to screw that up. Not only that, Thor fell in love with a human. Could he even ascend to the throne with her as his wife? I don't know your brother, but I'm assuming he'd choose Jane over--"

"I tire of this conversation, mortal," Loki bristles, his temper flaring. "Do this pitiful realm a favor and return to silence."

Fuming, Anna snaps her jaw shut for a moment while glaring at the Asgardian god. He closes his eyes again, refusing to look at her, which only fuels her anger toward him. While she knows fighting with him again probably isn't the best idea if she wants to get out of here alive, she can't resist jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow. Emerald eyes blaze at her, and she can't help but laugh at his extremely pissed-off expression. Sure, he's lost his cool a few times, but this is the first time Anna's been able to appreciate the crack in his ever-calm demeanor.

"Take care," Loki cautions, failing to hide his smile at her bubbling laughter, as he returns to his relaxed position.

Anna giggles, "Why bother? I've got you to take care of me instead. And I thought you were supposed to be the mischievous one."

"Do not be deceived," He tells her with a brilliantly ornery smile. "I am simply patient enough to wait for my revenge."

The two of them relax, smiling for the first time since this whole ordeal started. Anna isn't certain if she's laughed at all after hearing the news of Cole's death, and she is surprised that his murderer is the cause of current smile. It droops a bit at the thought, sadness clouding her vision, and she inhales deeply.

"You're thinking of him," Loki's voice draws her attention.

She nods, unwilling to speak any more about the subject, and Loki lets her sit in silence. Anna is stubborn and strong, but she's spent so much time running from Cole's death that she knows she isn't capable of handling it here in this moment. God knows this isn't the place to have a breakdown.

A grating voice breaks through their comfortable silence, booming through the speakers of the cell and drawing their attention to the glass.

"How sweet, you're bonding," Magnus says, his eyes sparkling. "Just in time for the fun to begin."

He's standing in the observation room with Eren and a handful of heavily armed guards and medical attendants. Both Anna and Loki tense at the sight of him, pulling their backs off the wall to sit upright. Magnus motions at two of the guards who stand outside the cell door, and Eren punches in the keypad to slide the door open just long enough for them to enter.

"Take her," Magnus instructs.


	35. Pain

**THE MEN APPROACH THEM**  with guns drawn, while Eren keeps his hand on the keypad - no doubt ready to start another session of whatever nerve gas they used on Loki. Anna's eyes are wide as she slowly stands, preparing herself mentally to go with the men willingly. Taking a step forward, she crosses in front of Loki's body and his shackled hands fly up to capture her fingers. His hands briefly squeeze hers as she meets his emerald eyes, forcing a rigid smile on her face.

"Come on, I'm  _bored_ ," Magnus moans, causing one of the guards to reach out and jerk Anna away from Loki.

She stumbles forward and shivers as the guard presses the cool metal of his gun against the base of her neck. Loki growls at the sight of it, clenching his fists tightly while he sits rigidly on the cot. Every fiber of his being is itching to destroy the two guards, and he knows he could with the power in his little finger - even with the magic-restricting cuffs - but he doesn't want to risk them gassing the room with Anna in it. Whatever it was in the blue clouds of smoke burned him from the inside out, and he can only imagine the pain would be significantly worse for a mortal. No, he is forced to do nothing to spare her that suffering.

Eren presses a button on the controls, and the door slides open to allow Anna and the two guards to cross into the observation room before shutting behind them. The second guard holsters his gun and pulls out a pair of handcuffs, reaching out to secure Anna's wrists behind her back. She tenses up at his touch, and Magnus chuckles in front of her.

"No need for those, I think," he says with a smirk. "Should she resist or try to escape, we'll gas her friend again."

Anna glances at Loki, his green eyes displaying no emotion as he watches them through the glass.

"Are we in agreement, my dear?" Magnus asks her.

She turns back toward him and nods. Regardless of Loki's crimes and their screwed up history, she can't watch him go through that again.

"Good," Magnus replies, leading them out of the observation room and down a dimly lit corridor.

The surroundings are unfamiliar to her, cold and stark white walls, leading her to believe that they must be in a different part of the underground base from her last visit. Unfortunately, that means she has even less of a clue of how to get out of this place. Fantastic.

Soon they arrive in a large room filled with various medical equipment, gleaming silver and white under the harsh fluorescent lighting. Computers line the wall, and a single lab tech scurries between different pieces of machinery. In the center of the room resides an uncomfortable-looking chair equipped with clamps to hold down the arms and a ring hovering above the headrest. Anna resists the urge to run at the sight of it, remembering Magnus' threat to hurt Loki if she tries anything. Still, there's something about this machine - whatever it is - that absolutely terrifies her.

"Don't worry. We won't be using that on you," explains Magnus, noticing her expression as she takes in the device. "Not today, at least."

Instead, they cross over to another metal chair setup next to a much less intimidating piece of equipment - a polygraph test. One of the guard grabs her by the arm and shoves her into the chair, while the other begins securing the various sensors to her. Two go across the front of her torso, while another two are slipped onto her right hand which is clamped flat to the arm of the chair. The cool metal against her skin is unsettling, and goosebumps spread up her arm. Finally, a blood pressure sleeve is placed on her left bicep, and she notices two black pads on the floor under her feet - likely to track her leg movement.

Once the guard has finished, the lab tech takes his place and begins securing various electrodes on Anna's bare skin. His hand brushes the top of her left breast and she nearly headbutts him, but Magnus' eyes are trained on her. He left Eren in the other room with Loki, and she won't risk causing him any more harm. Magnus smiles as the lab tech brushes away the hair on the left side of her neck and attaches a second electrode to her. The man nods at Magnus when he is finished, stepping back to retrieve his tablet.

Magnus sits in a chair in front of Anna, unbuttoning his suit jacket and casually crossing his leg over the other, before nodding at the guard. The man takes his seat at the polygraph station then begins monitoring Anna's signals while Magnus begins questioning her.

"Your name is Anna Diona Roman, correct?" Magnus asks, his eyes dark.

Anna frowns before sucking in a breath, "Yes."

He smiles, nodding, "And you are 28 years old?"

"Yes," Anna says, rolling her eyes.

"And you're from...England. Norwich, specifically?" Magnus asks, causing Anna to sigh.

"Yes."

The moment she replies, the guard glances at the lab tech and gives him a terse nod. In response, the tech taps on his screen and a jolt of electricity shoots through Anna's body. Sharp pain originating from the electrodes on her breast and neck slashes through her while the electric shock causes her muscles to contract and shake involuntarily. A painful scream slips through her lips before the current flowing through her comes to a halt, tears pouring from her eyes and a small trail of saliva trickling down her chin, and her chest heaves painfully as she tries to catch her breath.

"These are  _control_  questions, Anna," Magnus tells her, unmoved by her torture. "We already know the answers. Now that you know what will happen if you don't, I advise you tell the truth."

Anna's stomach lurches, and she leans forward to vomit on the floor next to her feet. Her entire body aches from the excruciating pain, while her head and senses struggle to come into focus.

"Are you from Norwich, Anna?" Magnus repeats.

Spitting to the side, Anna glares at him, "No."

"Good girl," he tells her with a laugh. "You were adopted at 7 years of age, is that right?"

"Yes," she replies.

"Your fiance was killed in the Battle of New York, was he not?" Magnus continues.

Frowning, Anna inhales before muttering, "Yes."

"And the Asgardian in our cell - Loki, is it?" Magnus looks amused. "He's the one responsible?"

Anna doesn't respond, and Magnus glances at the lab tech holding the iPad. The man initializes the current a second time, a high voltage flooding Anna's body and sending her back into sheer agony.

"Yes!" Anna cries through her clenched teeth as her body spasms out of control.

The pain continues for a few moments before Magnus nods at the lab tech to end the current. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and stares straight at Anna. Sweat trickles down her the back of her neck, and her eyes are wild from the pain as she stares back at the man responsible for her torture.

"Do you know where the rest of the Avengers are?" He asks, his voice laced with hatred as he spits out the words.

"No," Anna whispers, wide-eyed and afraid.

Magnus looks at the guard, who confirms that she is telling the truth, then turns to the lab tech and nods at him. A gruesome smile contorts his handsome features as the pain returns, another shock stabbing through every inch of her body, as she screams out in pain.

"I don't know!" Anna cries, "I didn't meet them!"

The pain continues, burning like wildfire through her muscles, as Magnus watches with glee. He motions for the lab tech to stop before standing, buttoning his suit jacket, and walking toward the exit.

"I know," he says over his shoulder. "I just wanted to make sure you understand that no one is coming to save you."

 


	36. Burns

**TWO GUARDS DRAG ANNA**  back to her shared cell with Loki, her legs dragging behind her as they pull her toward the room. Loki's eyes snap up immediately, emerald eyes narrow, at the sound of the opening door. He leaps to his feet a second later, registering her physical state, and rushes toward the glass.

"Step back," Eren's voice comes through the speaker in the room.

Loki glares at him, mentally shooting daggers at the man standing by the control panel. He wagers a few steps back, impatiently waiting for the door to slide open. As soon as it does, the guards toss Anna forward and allow the door to lock shut behind her, watching carelessly as her body crumples to the floor. Eren smirks as he leaves the control panel, turning on his feet to exit the observation room followed by the guards. They are alone once more.

With his hands shackled in front of him, Loki can do little other than throw himself to the floor before the brunette. He uses one hand to grasp her waist, catching her upper body before it collides with the cold concrete. Her blue eyes flicker open, but they are hazy and unfocused as she takes in the small, barren room.

"Anna," he murmurs into her ear, holding her flush against him as he glances over her body in an attempt to find any obvious damage. "Anna, look at me."

Her eyelids slide shut momentarily, and his heart skips a beat. If she slips out of consciousness, it will be harder for him to discover the source of her injury, especially as it seems she has no apparent wound. Blue eyes peek out from underneath her long black lashes, allowing him to relax, and she warrants a glance up at him.

"I don't know," she mumbles vaguely. "I don't know where they are."

Loki's brows knit together in confusion.

"Who?" He asks her gently. "Where who is?"

She winces at whatever thought his question brings, a single tear falling from the corner of her eye, and guilt floods Loki's chest. He should have done more to protect this woman, to keep her out of their hands, but instead he let them take her. He let them hurt her, when he should have been the one subjected to torture. Rage courses through his veins, and he can hardly keep himself from shaking at the thought of them harming her.

His eyes catch a small circular burn mark on the left side of her neck that he didn't notice before. Brushing her hair to the side, he gingerly touches the skin next to the mark as he observes it. Anna jerks away from his touch, barely coherent, but he shushes her. It must be new.

"What did they do to you?" Loki says, more to himself than to the half-conscious woman in his arms.

Anna shifts against him, burying her face in the hollow at the base of Loki's neck, and he inhales sharply at the sensation of her soft breath warming his skin. Clutching her waist with his hand, he carefully pulls her with him as he stands and takes the few short steps to the cot.

Together they land on the stiff mattress as Anna begins to slip from his hand, and he carefully lowers her down. Scooping her feet up, he tucks her legs onto the cot as well before kneeling by her head. Her blue eyes meet his green ones, and another pang of remorse shoots through his chest.

Weakness, he scolds himself, brushing it off. Simply weakness.

His hands rest on the mattress, and he glances down at them to see Anna's right hand brushing against his own. Unable or unwilling to move her entire arm, she laces her index finger with his before squeezing her eyes shut to prevent another wave of tears.

"Elec-electric," Anna says, her voice breaking. "Sh-sh-shock."

Loki's eyes widen, dropping his head to the mattress so she is unable to see the fury darkening his eyes. They tortured her with electricity, meaning they were able to limit the outward damage and inflict maximum pain with minimal effort. That explains the burn, he realizes, meaning there might be others.

Searching her body, he gently twists her right arm and discovers another small circular burn in the crook of her elbow. It appears to be the only other burn on her, and he prays to the gods that he is right. He pulls his fingers from hers, reaching up and barely grazing over the mark on her arm with his fingertips. Anna inhales sharply, but she doesn't wince away at his touch, so he leans forward and presses his chilled lips against the burn.

Her eyelids flutter open as he lifts his lips from her skin, allowing his cold fingers to brush over the mark once more, soothing the burn. She stares at him, without moving, as he delicately presses his fingers against the skin inside her elbow.

"I am truly sorry," he whispers, his voice barely a hum in his chest.

 


	37. Rage

**WHEN ANNA WAKES**  she takes a moment, keeping her eyes closed, while the memory of her torture with Magnus floods her mind. Pain. Searing pain. It flashes through her mind, tendrils of the pain ghosting through her sore muscles. Her entire body tenses, and she takes a deep breath before allowing her eyelids to flutter open.

"Hello," Loki's voice hits her ears like velvet, and her muscles instantly relax.

"Hello," Anna replies, her voice small.

She lets her eyes close again before struggling to push herself upright. Her arms shake from the effort, nearly collapsing, and Loki arrives at her side in a flash. Left hand behind her back, he lifts her carefully.

"You should lie back," Loki encourages. "You need rest."

Anna quirks an eyebrow at him, shaking her head as she turns to face him. A curtain of brown curls falls in front of her face, and she reaches up to tuck it behind her ear. Loki's hand is still resting on the curve of her waist, a fact that makes a light blush tint her cheeks. Her thoughts drift back to before, to his lips pressed against her skin, and she unconsciously moves to cover the very spot they touched on her arm.

"Does it hurt?" Loki asks.

"No," she tells him, with another shake of her head.

This time, a single strand slips from its prison behind her ear and falls in front of her eye. Loki removes his hand from her waist, lifting the index finger of his right hand to hook around the curl, and guides it back to her ear. His hand drops from her ear to the second burn mark, a small circle no bigger than his thumb, that now sits on her neck.

"And this?" He questions, his thumb brushing the burn softer than the first light snow of winter.

She uses her right arm to reach up, letting her hand press on top of Loki's. His skin is like marble beneath her palm, cold and smooth, and she can't help but marvel in the way his touch soothes the burn on her neck.

"That feels better," she tells him, still holding his hand against her skin.

Their eyes meet for a moment, before Loki pulls his hand from hers and stands. Air floods the space where his hand was, warming her skin ever-so-slightly, and she shifts uncomfortably. The Asgardian turns away from her, his emerald eyes dark, as he begins to pace the tiny cell. Whatever moment they had, whatever kindness peeked out from beneath his shell, disappeared. However much Anna wants to hate the man in front of her, a part of her wishes he would stay that way. That man is someone she didn't expect. Kind. Caring. Cautiously holding his cool hand against her neck. Gently pressing his lips against the inside of her elbow. Her breath hitches at the memory of his kiss.

Hazarding a look up at him, she can tell he is deep in thought. The thunder cloud hanging over his features tells her that he's not remembering the same thing she is, and she shakes away the disappointment, reminding herself of who the man in front of her is and what their situation is at the moment.

 _Hold yourself together_ , she scolds herself. She can't afford this kind of thoughts, nor will she allow them. After all, it's practically Stockholm Syndrome. It isn't real. It can't be.

"How long was I asleep?" Anna asks, breaking the silence.

The door to the observation room opens, drawing their attention.

"About twelve hours," Magnus says, striding into the room followed by Eren and several guards.

Loki scowls at him before turning back to Anna, discovering that the blood has drained from her face. She sits rigidly, unblinking, as she stares at the man who enjoyed watching her suffer. Slowly, her eyes begin to narrow as they darken with anger.

"What do you want?" She croaks, failing to mask the fear lodged in her throat.

Magnus smiles, the bright lights in the observation room glinting off his gleaming teeth. Loki takes another step toward Anna, itching to wrap his arms around her and transport her far away from here, whilst cursing the shackles around his wrists. This man is a maniac, the likes of which he had not expected to encounter on Midgard. He'd had his own brushes with madness, of course, and it was typically a quality he could appreciate, but this time it is different. This time it is personal.

"I thought it was time for another of our sessions," Magnus replies, tucking his hands in his pockets. "Highly therapeutic, wasn't it?"

Loki bristles, ignoring the voice telling him otherwise, and immediately goes to Anna. Her shoulders are hunched forward as she curls into herself, physically cowering in fear at the threat of more torture. Magnus laughs at her response, which only fuels Loki's anger. He sits next to Anna on the cot, positioning himself between her and the door, before taking her hands and covering them with his own.

"I don't know where they are," she whispers.

"What's that?" Magnus asks, as Loki shushes her. "You can't wait for round two?"

"Touch her and I rip out your throat," Loki barks, his voice thick with malice.

Magnus shrugs, "Fine, then. We play it your way. See if she survives the gas."

He motions at Eren, who smirks as he taps on the control panel to their cell, watching as the familiar blue gas begins to billow from the vents. Panic and adrenaline surge through his veins at the sight, as Anna remains nearly catatonic with fear beside him. Both Magnus and Loki know that she will not survive the gas.

"Wait," Anna coughs, already feeling the sting of the gas as it hits her nervous system. "I'll go! Please...I'll go."

Loki releases her hands, spinning to kneel before her. His hands rest on her knees as his green eyes scour her face. A few tears threaten to spill from the corner of her eyes, but she brushes them away with her palms. The gas continues to fill the room, weighing heavy on Anna's lungs. Everything burns - her eyes, her nose, her throat. Even her muscles feel as if they are on fire. The cold weight of Loki's hands on her legs is the only thing keeping her focused.

"Anna..." Loki begins.

"I'm waiting," Magnus interrupts, motioning for Eren to open the door and reverse the gas once Anna approaches the door.

Anna stands and pushes past Loki, stumbling toward the door as she coughs. Blood splatters on the back of her hand, and her eyes grow wide as she feels Loki snag her elbow. Turning her to face him, Loki's eyes land on the blood - her blood - and drops his hand to take a step back in defeat. He watches helplessly as Eren reverses the gas, emptying the room of the poison, before unlocking the door so Anna can step through.

Ignoring the pain caused by the gas, Loki forces himself to do nothing, to stand motionless, while his hatred burns through every inch of his skin. Threatening to erupt, he is forced to watch Magnus and his men lead Anna to be tortured once again. As soon as the door clicks shut, leaving the observation room empty, his fury explodes. 

 


	38. Bound

**OVER THE NEXT WEEK** , Anna is subjected to electro-shock torture for hours each morning. Her muscles are not able to hold her body weight after the torment, so she is dragged back to the cell and tossed into Loki's waiting arms every time. He does his best to soothe her wounds, his cold hands gliding over her skin wherever needed, but she is slow to recover. The involuntary movement cracked the healing bone in her right bicep, and her body is riddled with internal bruising and hairline fractures.

After so much suffering, the physical pain of the shocks no longer overwhelm her as they did before. Instead, simply the act of securing her to the chair sends Anna's mind and body into overdrive as the beginnings of PTSD take hold. Fear, and fear alone, has worked its way into her body, snaking through her mind like a poison, slowly driving her mad.

"Anna," Loki mutters into her hair, holding her against his chest after a fresh round of torture. "Can you stand?"

His fingertips push the hair away from her sweat-drenched skin, smoothing over the multiple burn marks scattered across her neck. Goosebumps riddle her skin, the cold seeping into her bones, as he does what he is able to relieve her pain.

"I'm okay," Anna responds, gripping his shirt tightly. "I can do it."

The two of them stand, Loki's hand clinging to Anna's waist as she leans against him. Taking a step toward the cot, her knees buckle, and they sink to the ground once more. Anna stifles a laugh, and Loki grimaces.

"Look at me, I'm pathetic," she tells him, struggling to push herself up to standing once more.

He frowns, shaking his head. As they work their way upright, he mumbles a few words into her hair, but Anna is unable to make them out. Once they take the final few steps to the cot, she sinks down into the uncomfortable mattress and allows Loki to lift her legs onto the bed.

"What did you say?" She asks, her blue eyes cloudy with pain and sleeplessness.

Nightmares riddle her sleep, and she often wakes up drenched in sweat and screaming. Loki does what he can to calm her, often pressing his cool hand to her forehead until she drifts back to sleep, but there is little he can do to keep her terrors at bay. As a result, her PTSD has worsened, and her body continues to fall into a state of disrepair.

Loki shrugs, "It is not important."

"Come on," Anna insists sleepily. "Tell me."

"I said," he hesitates for a moment, breaking eye contact, "You have the strength of the gods in you. I know few in all the nine realms who would sustain such torture yet be able to muster a smile as you do. I admire your resolve."

"Oh," she replies, unsure of how to respond.

"This will not last much longer," Loki promises, his green eyes marked with concern.

"I didn't think you were a defeatist, Loki," Anna jokes. "I know I won't be able to live through much more of this, but come on."

Loki frowns, pulling away from the cot and pacing the cell in front of her. His hands clench and unclench, the veins in his arms pulling tight as he makes a powerful fist. For a moment, Anna could swear the pale skin of his fingers had a bluish tinge to it. After a few minutes of silence, Anna hoists herself upright and swings her legs off the edge the cot. She takes a second to catch her breath, watching the dark-haired Asgardian burn with anger. He catches her movement out of the corner of his eye, then moves toward her. Hesitating, he waits - eyes dark - before crouching beside her.

"Anna, I..." he looks at his shackled hands, internally cursing the bonds. "We will escape this place, I swear to you."

He pauses, pulling a silver band from his pinky finger, and holds it up to her. The silver is knotted intricately, a delicate design of chaos and control wrapping around the entirety of the band. Anna's eyes grow wide at the sight, uncertain of what is happening and unsure of how to respond, so she stays silent as Loki continues.

"I, Loki Laufeyson, confirm by oath upon this ring - a lawful oath in the eyes of the Almighty All-Father, Odin himself - that I shall deliver you from this place, protecting you from death and danger, with the strength of my magic, my body, and my rage. I shall lay down my own life to see no further harm comes to you. By Frigga, by Thor, and by the Almighty Odin, may my soul be bound to yours, to be destroyed forevermore should I fail to keep this oath."

Reaching forward, he slips the ring onto Anna's middle finger before bringing her knuckles to his lips. He gently presses a kiss to the ring, green eyes staring unwaveringly into her blue ones, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"Wh-what did you just do?" Anna whispers, unable to look away from him a tears begin to well up in the corners of her eyes.

"I am bound to you," he replies simply.

"Why?" She asks, the feeling of his silver ring burning into her flesh as he continues to hold her hand in his.

"I am not a good man," Loki tells her. "I have done many wrongs, and there is no hope for my redemption. You, however, can and should be saved. After the damage I have wrought in your life, I felt it was the least I could do. I may be a monster, but I am not without a soul. I shall see you safe."


	39. Information

**EREN WALKS**  into the observation room the next morning without Magnus or the guards. His eyebrows lift in surprise as he sees Anna asleep, curled into Loki's shoulder, the two of them sitting upright on the small cot pushed against the wall of the cell. The Asgardian god stares at him, unblinking, his green eyes boring straight through the glass. Even with the separation between them, Eren fights the urge to squirm beneath his intense look of hatred.

"Why are you doing this?" Loki asks softly, careful not to wake Anna.

"Is this the part where you get me to sympathize with you?" Eren quips, his dark eyes glittering with distorted amusement. He might have a healthy dose of fear toward the man who led an alien invasion against New York, but he knows he has the upper hand. "It's not going to work. I won't help you."

Loki scoffs, "I don't want or need your assistance, impudent bastard."

"Then what?" Eren asks impatiently, crossing his arms.

A brief look of softness crosses Loki's pale features as he glances down at Anna before hardening back into reticent disgust as he meets Eren's questioning look. Eren laughs, a booming sound that echoes through the speakers of their cell, as he unwinds his arms and tucks his hands into his pockets. Anna shifts uncomfortably against Loki's chest, her brown hair falling over her face as she presses her cheek into his shoulder with a muffled groan.

"You want me to help her," concludes Eren.

Loki nods, the movement barely perceptible. He knows that Anna will not survive many more torture sessions, but he is unwilling to stand up to their threats and risk her exposure to the gas. The oath he swore to her is a complicated one, something he never should've done, but he couldn't stop himself. Now his soul is irrevocably bound to the promise he made to the sleeping brunette, and even he isn't willing to suffer the consequences of breaking such a vow. No, he never should've made that oath - especially without a plan - but now he will stop at nothing to see it finished.

"She has information we need," he tells Loki with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's as simple as that."

"What information?" Loki hisses. "You have Stark and Thor, along with two innocent women. She knows nothing about Banner's whereabouts after he escaped."

Anna begins to wake at the sound of Loki's voice growing louder with his rising temper, and she slowly peels herself away from his chest. Her cheeks tint pink for a moment, realizing how she had slept, before draining of color when she sees Eren standing there.

"What do you want?" She asks, her voice rough from sleep.

He laughs, "I come with a proposition."

Loki's eyes darken at his words, his hands clenching tightly into fists. The shackles that hold him cut into his skin, the already raw and bruised rings around his wrists threatening to leak blood at any moment. Anna intertwines her fingers, nervously brushing against the small silver ring on her right hand and twisting in gently. She exhales a shaky breath before speaking.

"Go on then," she says.

"Your freedom in exchange for that of your sister," Eren states. "Simp--"

"My what?" Anna interrupts. "I don't have a sister."

Her mind is racing at Eren's words, and her fingers freeze from where they were twirling the ring around. The repetition was soothing in the midst of the chaos as she memorized the intricate knotting pattern beneath her fingerprints. Eren smiles, giving her a look that sends shivers down her spine. Whatever he wants, whatever  _they_  want...she can't give it to them. Even if she wanted to make a bargain, she doesn't have a sister. Nothing can change that.

Next to her, Loki says nothing as he processes the exchange slowly. Ever-so-slightly, a look of recognition flits across his fingers as it all clicks into place. Anna was the target in Istanbul, not Rifat. They simply used him as a tool to drive her toward Restitution, toward Stark. Phase one was to connect her with those Avengers they could manage to manipulate and capture, but even an organization such as this must have a backup plan. There are more Avengers still fighting. Originally he thought they would have no connection - wouldn't know or care about their capture - but now it makes sense. Anna's repeated torment. They're giving her motivation to betray, yes, but they're also making her bait.

He unclenches his fist to reach down and lace his fingers with Anna's. The sensation pulls her out of her thoughts as she looks up at him, confused.

"That's where you're wrong, my dear. You have a biological sister," Eren says with a rough, barking laugh. "Anya Romanova."

 


	40. History

**ANNA SHAKES** her head in disbelief.

"I don't," she stutters, "I mean...I can't. I was..."

Her voice cracks, and she finds herself gripping Loki's hand like a lifeline. A sister? It can't be possible. She was adopted from a young age. She remembered the orphanage she lived in back in Russia. There was no one else. There  _could be_  no one else. Right?

Eren chuckles as if he's reading her thoughts, "You're likely wondering how you could have a sister, correct? How you don't remember anyone at the orphanage in Russia, how you were alone."

A lump grows in Anna's throat. She can't bring herself to move, to breathe, or even to face Eren as he continues.

"Do you remember the story of the fire?" He asks. "At your orphanage?"

She blinks twice, the memories flooding back into her mind. She hardly remembered the fire, only the stories they told afterward. There was an attack next door, some military group, and the orphanage caught fire. She was only three at the time. The only thing she could remember was a face - a man's face - as he carried her to safety, taking her to a new facility that would become her home. After that...

"...I don't remember," she croaks. "After the fire, I don't remember. All I know is the orphanage burned when I was three, and I was adopted at seven. Why...why can't I remember?"

"You were taken to the Red Room," Eren answers with a smirk. "Both you and your sister, trained from a young age by the KGB as part of a program to make you two of the world's deadliest assassins."

"You're lying."

Shaking her head, Anna blinks away tears. Her chest rises and falls as she struggles to keep her breathing even. Loki says nothing, watching her carefully as she absorbs the information.

 _He knew - Loki knew something was hidden in my past. Something I couldn't remember,_  she realizes.

"But how? How do I not remember? Why?" Anna sputters.

Eren shrugs, "The Red Rooms are known for brainwashing the girls. Either they wanted no emotional attachment between your sister and yourself, or your parents took the matter into your own hand."

"My parents?!"

"Ah," he approaches the glass with a satisfied smirk. "You didn't honestly think they were simply school teachers, did you? Your parents were two of the greatest scientists in the KGB. They became...dissatisfied with the Red Room and stole you - took you from the program and brought you to England. I'd wager they even knew about your sister, but they left her and hid the memory from you. Ever wonder how you learned how to pack such a punch?"

Tears threaten to spill from Anna's eyes at the revelation that her parents - the two people she trusted most in the world - knew about this, about all of this, and lied to her. She was meant to be a weapon. She has a sister.  _A sister_. They never told her. They kept her in the dark about everything.

"That brings me to my deal," Eren says, sitting down in a metal chair. He crosses his leg, leaning back to relax as he faces them from inside the observation room. "Your life for that of your sister."

"I don't even know who my sister is," Anna snaps at him.

"Ah, but that's the fun part," he replies. "Natasha Romanoff - the Black Widow. You see, getting tangled up with the Avengers seems to be a family trait."

Loki stiffens next to her as she hears the name. Even he didn't expect such a connection, but of course it all makes sense. Natasha wasn't at the tower during the attack, which means she's on the run with the others - Barton, Rogers, and likely Banner. Either they want Anna to lead them directly to the rest of the Avengers, or they hope to use her as bait.

"Go to hell," the brunette spits at him. "I won't help you."

Eren lifts a hand and signals for guards to enter the room. As soon as they do, Anna practically cowers at the sight of them. Her mind and body have been trained into a significant fear response at the very presence of the men who torture her each day, and it takes all of her strength not to erupt into terrified screams.

"No, no, no," she mutters, now clinging to Loki with both arms.

The Asgardian edges forward on the bed, allowing a gap between his back and the wall for Anna to turn into. He holds positions himself in front of her, acting as a barrier between these men who wish to torment her yet again. Thinking back on his vow, his mind races for a solution. Some way to keep her safe.

Once the door slides open, the guards enter - guns drawn - and move forward slowly. A low growl rumbles within Loki's chest, his green eyes sparking with hatred.

"Take him," Eren instructs, surprising him.

A brave guard grabs at Loki's arm, attempting to tug him off the bed, only to be thrown across the room with a deafening thud. The second raises his gun to point directly at the black-haired god's forehead while more guards rush into the cell. Soon, half a dozen men point their guns at him, while the first one pulls himself off the ground. Dazed, the first guard retrieves his gun and points it at Anna instead, his finger curled against the trigger.

"You come with us, or she dies," he threatens.

Watching the man closely, Loki nods before turning to Anna. He squeezes her hand tightly, pressing a kiss to her temple, before moving to stand in front of the small squad of guards. The brunette reaches for him, catching his fingers with her hand, and he turns back to her. She's still terrified by the guards, but her eyes are bright with a mix of anger, determination, and fear. She's fighting it with all she has.

"Be careful," she whispers. "I...I need you."

Loki attempts to give her a reassuring smile, but his green eyes are dark with pain at her admission. He should have been more careful, he should have known what was happening. Now it's even worse - they're trapped here together, and he - the God of Mischief and Lies - made an unbreakable vow to protect this feeble mortal who sits in front of him. He wants to leave her, wants to let them take her or kill her, but his heart grows soft as he looks into her beautiful blue eyes.

He nods then turns back to the guards who escort him from the cell. Within seconds, they're gone, and Anna is alone in the cell. The sound of muffled laughter draws her attention, causing her to jerk up. Eren. Eren is still here.

The bastard moves to the door to the observation room Loki just exited, nodding to the guard through the thin glass pane, and Anna hears the 'click' of the lock. Then, he approaches the control pad to the room and the cell door slides open.

A crackle of electricity hisses through the room. Blue eyes bright with fear, her gaze lands on the long black wand in Eren's hand. He laughs at the sight of her unmitigated terror and slowly enters the room, swinging the electrified baton in his hand.

"Finally, we're alone again. Don't you know I've missed you, Anna?" He asks as he approaches, a devilish smirk curling up the corners of his mouth. "This will be fun."


	41. Penance

**CRYING OUT IN PAIN,**  Anna slumps to the floor in fetal position. Her brown hair sticks to her forehead as beads of sweat drip down her skin and into her eyes. Eren stands over her, brandishing his glorified cattle prod proudly. She sucks in a shallow breath - her ribs ache from the force of his blows coupled with the subsequent tremors the localized electricity send through her - and glares up at him.

"Why..." she spits a wad of blood onto the floor. "Why do you do what Magnus says? Why do you listen to that bastard?"

Eren grunts, a single gruesome laugh bursting from his lips, "Because I  _want_  to. He might be the face of this operation, but I am the hands and feet."

"Is that what they told you? Did they tell you that they needed you? That you were important?" Anna pushes herself upright, scooting her back against the wall as she stares up at Eren from her seat on the ground. He takes a step closer, and she fights the urge to shrink away from him. "They lied to you. You are expendable, just like I am. They're just going to use you the way they used me, Eren."

Her voice is hardly more than a whisper at that last sentence, blue eyes filled with hope as she pleads with him. Anything - anything - to make a connection. Instead, his already dark eyes glint with amusement before turning a shade darker. Eren reaches down with the hand not wielding the cattle prod and uses it to stroke Anna's jaw, capturing it firmly between his fingers when she jerks away from his touch, and leans down until his face is only inches away from hers.

"You think you can appeal to my humanity," he whispers before removing his hand whilst throwing her jaw to the side. Standing, he turns his back to her and stretches his arms. His neck cracks, and Anna can hear the smirk in his voice. "I will be the destruction of gods."

Before he can speak, Anna manages to find a burst of adrenaline to pull her legs beneath her to stand and launches herself at him. He turns, spinning away from her, and her body reacts instantaneously by tucking into a forward roll. Using her elbow, she jabs Eren in the nose to buy herself time to whirl around to face him. Furious, Eren takes a step toward her and throws a wild right hook, but Anna uses her right arm to latch onto him and propels herself into the air. Hooking her legs around his neck, she leans backward to use her momentum to flip him to the ground. Surprised and out of sorts, Anna uses the opportunity to deliver a final jab that renders Eren unconscious.

"So much for the destruction of gods," she mumbles, using the back of her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth.

She wastes no time in stumbling through the open door to the observation room, ducking low to keep out of the line of vision of the guard standing on the other side of the door. Once in position pressed against the wall next to the door, Anna raps her knuckles against the metal and sucks in a breath. The door swings open and the guard steps through, giving her the opportunity to kick in the back of his knees to bring him to the ground before twisting into a powerful roundhouse to knock him out.

Her hand barely makes it back to the door to catch it before it latches shut.

Peeking out the door, she suppresses a gasp as a guard rounds the corner at the end of the hall. Luckily, he didn't hear the guard enter her room or her attacks, meaning the hallway is blessedly empty. There are security cameras everywhere, but at this point Anna is banking on the sheer momentum rather than stealth. The only way she's going to find Loki and get out of here is by moving faster than they are able to respond.

The memory of the location of the room where they tortured her is hazy at best, so she's half guessing as she forces her broken body into a sprint down the right of the corridor. Passing dimly lit rooms, she weaves through the labyrinth of hallways before the sound of Loki's shouts of anguish cause her to freeze in her tracks.

His voice is close - close enough to follow - so she ducks into an empty room and waits for the next patrol of guards to pass her. Seconds later, another cry echoes through the compound sending shivers down her spine. She can't wait any longer, so she slips from the room and walks straight into a third guard.

The man stares at her in shock for a moment before reaching for his gun, only to be met by a knee to the abdomen and a punch to the groin. Incapacitated, he grunts in pain giving Anna the opportunity to wrap her arms around his neck in a choke hold and send him to the ground in seconds. She releases him to the ground after his body grows limp, running toward the direction she last heard Loki's voice.

Another shout - louder still - encourages her to push her legs even faster until she arrives at the door separating them. The brunette takes a moment to catch her breath and analyze threat level of the room, then twists the handle to enter in a flash. Following her instincts, she quickly disarms three guards in rapid succession before moving on to the only lab tech in the room. Her blue eyes flash with recognition when she realizes that it's the same man who facilitated her torture, sending electricity through her body, before she charges at him.

"Anna, no," Loki's voice pulls her from her blind rage before she lands a fourth punch on the lab tech's face. Her left hand is clenched around his collar, holding him in place, and her right is pulled back to deliver another blow to his already crimson-stained face. "This isn't you."

She turns to find the source of the voice, startled to see the perpetually cool and collected raven-haired god in a state of disarray. Loki's pale skin is drenched in sweat, while his smooth black hair is knotted with blood. Tiny cuts cover his face, the blood dripping from the wounds in stark contrast from his alabaster skin. His shirt hangs in tatters on his tall frame, and Anna's eyes grow wide when she registers the charred remains of the fabric clinging to his sweat-covered chest. Burns cover a substantial amount of his upper body, and she instantly drops the lab tech at the sight of him.

"Oh, god," she mutters, rushing over to him where he's shackled to the wall. Her hands ghost over his face, careful not to cause him further pain, while smoothing the black hair out of his eyes. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"Now is not the time for apologies, my love," Loki hums, his voice weak.

Squeezing her eyes shut to force back her tears, she nods. He's right. Now is not the time. Letting her thumb brush over his lips, she turns her back on him and rushes to the trio of unconscious guards.

"I'm going to get you out of here," she promises, searching the first guard for some sort of key. "We're going to get out of here."

Emptying his pockets on the floor around her, she slips a large knife into the waistband of her jeans before moving onto the next two guards. Both prove to be unfruitful, so she stands and returns to the lab tech. The man lies on the floor, sobbing quietly, so she pulls out the knife and presses it against his throat.

"Where is the key?" She growls, motioning toward where Loki barely stands, his magic-binding shackles attached to a hook hanging from the ceiling.

The lab tech gurgles a few incomprehensible words, and Anna digs the tip of blade into his skin to draw blood. He freezes at the painful prick, squeezing his eyes shut in fear, before blurting out, "Magnus. Magnus has it."

Anna's shoulders fall. She slams the lab tech into the floor, knocking him unconscious, before returning to where Loki is restrained. He's too tall for her to reach the hook holding his shackles from the ceiling, and she can barely reach past his elbows - let alone to the cuffs themselves.

"Leave me," the Asgardian tells her, his green eyes soft. "I'm of no consequence, not when your life is at risk. I took an oath to protect you, and I will not allow you to endanger yourself any further at my expense."

"No," Anna replies, shaking her head as she grabs a chair and pulls it up to him. Standing on the seat, she carefully runs her fingers up his arms to the hook before struggling to lift the chain of Loki's wrist constraints from it. Gritting her teeth with effort, she barely manages to slip it free, after which point Loki crumples to the floor and sends Anna and the chair with him.

She lands on top of him, quickly peeling herself from his burn-covered chest and maneuvering to his side to pull him upright. His godlike strength is rapidly diminishing, a fact that sends fear through her veins as she struggles to lift him so he can lean his back against the cool concrete wall behind them.

"Anna, I am not worth saving," Loki whispers. "I've killed so many that I can no longer see my hands due to the stain of the blood of countless innocents. I'll not add your blood to the blemish on my soul." His voice breaks for a moment as he catches his breath, emerald eyes studying her face. "Consider this my penance...for your betrothed."

Without thinking or hesitating, Anna's lips crush against Loki's. He yields instantly to her kiss, the two of them melding together as one, his lips soft as cool silk beneath her own. She can't help but notice the sensation, like ice cream on a hot summer day, as his tongue darts between her lips to request entry. Parting them immediately, their kiss deepens as she winds her hands up his neck and into his long, black hair. She moans into him, his lips pressing against her earlobe before trailing down her neck and collarbone then finding their way back to her mouth. Each touch, each taste, ignites a fire deep within her that she never expected - that she's never felt before - and leaves her craving more of him.

"I can't leave you," she mumbles between desperate kisses, claiming Loki's lips as her own. "I won't."


	42. Burns

**ANNA'S KISS**  catches Loki unaware, but he surprises himself by the ferocity with which he returns it. Never in a hundred years did he expect her to do something like this, but he cannot deny how much he enjoys it. He'd been with countless women during his lifetime, including some of the most beautiful women of Asgard and other worlds beyond, but there is something different about this one. Something different about Anna.

He doesn't deserve it, any of it. Her compassion, her strength, her kiss. Not with his past, his brokenness. Ever since he fell from the Bifrost, he's changed. How could someone like her have feelings for someone like him? It's not love. It can't be love. Not only does he not deserve it, a part of him truly believes that it would be impossible.

A monster cannot be loved.

Turning his face to the side to break the kiss, Loki's breath is shallow and labored. Magnus and his men spared no expense in his torment, immediately utilizing primitive torture methods such as fire and brands to break him. His Frost Giant heritage made him stronger than any mere mortal, but it also makes him more susceptible to heat. Somehow, these men knew his weakness and exploited it.

While he wants to do nothing more than scoop Anna in his arms and take her away from here, allowing his fingers and lips to touch every inch of her skin, it is not the time or the place. He can feel himself growing weaker by the second, and her safety is his priority not his pleasure.

Anna leans her forehead against his, and Loki can't help but smile at the sensation of her soft skin against his. Her breathing is heavy as she recovers from their moment of heated passion, and her hands are still snaked around his neck. If he had the choice, he would wish for her to remain in this position until the end of time.

"That was..." his voice rumbles deep within his chest.

"...unexpected," Anna finishes with a shy smile. Her cheeks are flushed pink, and he can't help but notice how becoming it is. She is, perhaps, the most exquisite creature he has ever laid his eyes upon in the entirety of the Nine Realms.

"Perfect," he replies with a weak laugh. He lifts his hands to her face, cupping her chin with one whilst caressing her cheek with the thumb of the other, and presses a gentle kiss to her lips, "You're perfect."

Her blush deepens, and she shakes her head, "No. Not in the least. I got us into this mess. Stark, Thor,  _you._  It's all my fault."

"Yes, well, I never said you were not a foolish woman, and this," he kisses her again, "only serves to lend credibility to the matter."

Anna laughs, a glorious sound more pleasing than music to his ears, and she unwraps her arms from his neck. He catches her hands in his own and presses each hand to his lips, before she pulls out of his grasp and stands.

"Then call me crazy, because I'm getting us out of here," she says, her blue eyes sparkling with determination.

Loki pushes himself to his feet, nearly collapsing against the wall for support, and waves off Anna's assistance. He's far too stubborn for her help, regardless of his feelings for her, and he's not about to let her know that what little strength he retains is quickly slipping away. The cold concrete provides some solace, so he takes a moment to catch his breath. His green shirt is unbuttoned and in tatters, exposing his burned and bloodied chest, and he can hardly stand - let alone walk. How she intends to facilitate their escape is far beyond him.

"How do you propose to do such a thing?" Loki asks.

Anna, who is currently combing the contents of the room for something useful, smiles at him, "Magic, remember?"

He sighs, holding up his wrists, "Are you neglecting to take these into account? I'll not allow you to go searching for that man to find a key. Not after what he's already done to you."

"You couldn't stop me even if you tried," she argues, firing him a dirty look. "Besides, if we're lucky - which I'm usually not, I'll grant you - we might not even need him."

She continues her search in silence, and Loki watches her from across the room. Her clothes are wrinkled and dirty from the many days they've spent locked in the cell, and her skin is riddled with burn marks from her torture sessions with Magnus. Somehow, even though they've lacked proper sleep and nutrition, she seems to be glowing with new resolve. Her eyes land on something on the far table, one of the many devices they used during Loki's torture, and he sees it written all over her face. Hope.

"God, I hope this works," she says, grabbing everything she needs to make it work and returning to Loki.

His green eyes are filled with doubt as he takes in oddly shaped device, recalling the pain it inflicted on his chest. More than one of his deep burns was caused by it, and he'd like to avoid repeating the experience.

"What do you hope to achieve with that?" He asks her, lifting an eyebrow. "I'd very much like to keep both of my hands, so I'd prefer avoiding that."

Anna smirks, "I'm not going to cut off your hands. I'm going to cut off those cuffs."

"And you believe it will work?" He sounds suspicious.

"We don't have another option at the moment, except for the key," Anna reminds him. "Besides, these were created to inhibit your magic, yes? That means they were probably thinking about the wearer's strength when they created them, not an outside force. Ideally, whoever made these would've allowed for some sort of weakness - or fail safe - for getting them off. Obviously not something you could do yourself."

She begins setting up the equipment, fiddling around with various buttons and controls until it flickers to life. Setting it down, she grabs a metal chair and loops her arm around Loki's waist to guide him to it. Their eyes lock for a moment, and Anna leans in to press a single kiss to his lips before picking up the device.

"Hold still," Anna instructs, her voice filled with uncertainty. "This is a plasma torch, and I've only seen my dad use one when I was a kid. I'd really prefer it if you kept both of your hands as well."

Following her directions, Loki clenches his fists and holds the shackles out for her to see. He can feel the heat from the torch blistering his skin, even though it's currently directed at the chain between his hands, and he clenches his teeth to prevent a cry of pain from slipping through his lips. Sparks are flying from the metal, landing on his bare arms in excruciating pain, and he squeezes his eyes shut until the sound of the torch stops.

"It worked," Anna's voice brings him back to the present, and he looks down to see the chain connecting his shackles cut in two. His arms are bright red and blistering from the heat, and Anna gasps when she realizes it. "Oh my god. Oh god, Loki. I'm so sorry. I'm so..."

She drops the torch, kneeling in front of him, and gently takes one of his hands into her own. Avoiding the marred flesh, she kisses his palm before squeezing his fingers tightly.

"Is it enough?" Her voice sounds small and fearful, and he can tell she is hoping to avoid using the device again to cut off the individual cuffs.

"No," Loki replies, shaking his head.

Anna curses under her breath, "Then I'll find something. I'll go find the key, or I'll find..."

"Anna," he interrupts, lifting his other hand despite the screaming pain and brushing a lock of brown hair away from her eyes. "We don't have time, my love. Do it."

"Yes, Anna," Magnus' voice comes from the door. "Do it." 


	43. Dirty Work

**SHE FREEZES**  at the sound of Magnus' voice, unwilling to turn around and see the man responsible for both hers and Loki's pain. She notices Loki's emerald eyes are burning with rage, and his fingers have interlaced with hers. Standing slowly, she turns around to face Magnus, surprised to see that he is alone.

"What, no one to do your dirty work?" She spits out, still clinging to Loki with one hand. He moves to stand, but she squeezes his fingers as if to tell him to save his strength. They definitely don't need to show Magnus how weak he truly is at the moment.

Magnus grins, shrugging off his suit jacket as he walks into the room. He drapes the expensive grey jacket on a table then carefully begins removing his cufflinks. They clink onto the tabletop, shiny silver squares inlaid with onyx, and he takes another step toward them whilst rolling up the sleeves of his crisp white button down.

"Apparently, you were able to waylay most of them without batting an eyelash," he says with a chuckle, motioning at the unconscious guards on the floor. "Why bother with more ineptitudes when clearly this is something I'll have to do myself."

"I won't do it," Anna insists. "I won't betray them. Not again."

Magnus waves her off, "Oh, don't worry about that. We sent a message to your sister. See, she's been off galavanting with Captain America searching for his long-lost war buddy - pissing off a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. folks, I might add - which is why they weren't at the Avengers tower."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. won't allow this," Loki interrupts him. "They'll find us, find the rest of the Avengers. Banner."

"See, that's where you're wrong," Magnus chuckles. "Nick Fury is dead. Rumor has it, Captain America is wanted in association with his murder. I couldn't give a rats ass about him at the moment, considering S.H.I.E.L.D. wants him just as much as I do, meaning the two of you have officially outlived your usefulness. And as for Banner, I kinda like knowing that he's out there, living on the run. I can't wait for him to get pissed off and destroy a city again."

Using the hand that isn't intertwined with Loki's, Anna reaches behind her back and wraps her hand around the knife tucked in the waistband of her jeans. Whatever Magnus intends to do to them, he doesn't appear to have a gun, which means she might have a chance against him.

"But enough of this talk," the man tells them. "Glad to see you two got together. The guards were all waiting for it to happen. The man who murdered your fiance and countless others, and the woman who betrayed the world's heroes. I must say, I didn't see it coming."

He takes a quick step forward, grabbing a leather coil from a table, and cracks it against the floor. Anna's eyes widen at the sight of the whip, tightening her grip on both the knife and Loki's hand, before Magnus snaps it at her. Loki springs from his chair with surprising speed, tackling her to the ground and taking the force of the hit to his back, before rolling off and allowing Anna to crawl to her feet. She takes off running for Magnus, avoiding a second strike with the whip, before revealing her knife and striking at his arm.

He dodges the blow easily, delivering a solid kick to her rib cage followed by a crossbody punch to her nose. She barely blocks the punch with her forearms, grabbing his wrist and using his forward moment to pull him into her stance, then sends a knee into his groin. Pushing the knife toward his neck, he grips her forearm tightly - jamming his foot on her toes - before twisting her around and wrapping his arm around her neck so the knife is pointing toward her neck instead. Whipping her head backward, Anna's skull connects with his nose with a satisfying crunch, giving her the opportunity to correct her form and prepare for his next attack.

Meanwhile, Loki manages to drag himself over to the plasma torch on the ground, barely clinging to consciousness. He pulls the belt off his trousers and places it between his teeth, biting down hard, before pulling the trigger on the torch and directing the flow of plasma to the cuff on his left wrist. Screaming in pain through the leather belt, he manages to cut through the first cuff and pulls the searingly hot metal off his now-mutilated arm.

Anna turns at the sound of his cries, allowing Magnus an opportunity to kick in the back of her knee - sending her crashing to the ground - before grabbing her hair and pulling back her neck. His other arm snakes around her neck, attempting to secure the grip to snap it, before Anna bites his arm and sends an elbow crashing into his ear.

Her knife clatters to the ground when Magnus captures and twists her wrist, whilst Loki pulls the trigger on the plasma gun once more to free his other hand from its constraint. Magnus jabs Anna in the face, drawing blood, before throwing her to the ground and picking up the knife she dropped. He delivers a few kicks to the side of her body, including her lingering bullet wound on her right bicep, before straddling her.

"You're good," he says, wiping the sweat and blood from his brow. Toying with the blade in his hand, he runs it down the side of her cheek, "Just like your sister. Too bad you never got to know her."

"Anna!" Loki shouts, ripping the remaining cuff off his wrist and spitting out the belt.

Magnus flips the knife, readying himself to jab it into her, as Loki reaches out for her. Her fingertips brush with his, and a familiar current of energy jolts through them before a green mist sweeps over them, transporting them out of the compound just as Magnus sends the knife straight toward Anna's heart.

 


	44. Lost

**THE SENSATION**  of pulling and compression hits Anna's body, and for a moment she thinks she might be sick. Her mind is a blur, the only thing she can remember are Loki's cries of pain and him shouting her name before everything slipped away. Before Magnus slipped away.

Magnus. The name brings her back to the present, and she realizes that she's lying on something...warm. It's getting warmer by the second, a mixture of heat above and below her, so she allows her eyelids to flutter open and take her surroundings. Blinding light hits her eyes, nothing but white, as she sits upright with some difficulty.

"Loki?" She asks, her words coming out like a croak. Everything is spinning, the world is bright and red and hot around her, and she can't find the Asgardian beside her. "Loki, where are you?"

Squinting, she blinks the dust out of her eyes and sighs. Nothing but dust, dirt, and the hot sun boiling down to keep her company as far as the eye can see. Pushing herself up to her feet, she brushes the sand off her back before checking behind her. That's when she sees it. A dark figure in the distance, lying flat on the sand.

"Oh, god," Anna takes off running, tripping over her bare feet on the hot sand, calling out his name, "Loki! Loki!"

She slides to a stop by his side and carefully begins to assess him for signs of life. His side is hemorrhaging blood, a fresh wound that can only be explained by the knife Magnus tried to stab into her heart. Somehow in using his magic to facilitate their escape, Loki must have shielded her, taking the knife himself. Whispering a prayer, she rolls him onto his back and checks for breath. It's not there. Panic shoots through her entire body, desperately wishing that the wind whipping around her face is playing tricks on her. Her fingers quake as they brush against the skin of his neck, searching for a pulse, and she barely feels it - irregular and weak - thumping against her fingertips.

"Please...please wake up," she presses her lips against his, praying for something - anything - to happen and bring him back to her. Without him, she's lost.

Tears roll down her cheeks, mixing with the blood stained there to leave a swirl of red on her pale skin. Her fingers shake as they move down his torso, landing on the wound leaking blood out of his side. Anna push against it, hating every second of the feeling of his thick blood escaping his body as it continues to take him away from her, and say a prayer.

"You can't leave," she dips her head, inhaling his scent - reminiscent of fresh snow mixed with a hint of spice - and resting her forehead against the hollow at the base of his neck. Her voice cracks as she weep, the fragments of her already shattered heart aching within her chest. Loki's vow to her comes to mind, swearing to protect her and keep her from harm, and she can't help but notice how his absence hurts more than anything they could've done to torture her.

"You promised. You promised you'd keep me safe. This isn't safe. This isn't..."

Sand begins to swirl around them, gradually rising higher into the air, while Anna remains sobbing into Loki's chest. Her hair whips around her face and she sniffs, brushing away tears with the palm of her hand, before seeing the ground surrounding them begin to glow in some strange pattern. Clinging to Loki, a loud crash erupts - louder than thunder - enveloping them in the brightest light she has ever experienced, and she throws herself over his chest to protect him as everything around them explodes into light and sound.

It's over in seconds, her ears ringing from the absence of noise, and Anna looks at the ground next to her to see the dirt has been replaced with solid gold. Her breath hitches in her throat, and a pair of gold-armored feet come into her view.

"Move, child," a deep voice tells her, causing her to look up and meet the man's golden eyes with a gasp.

His skin is dark, his gold eyes framed by a golden helmet that protects his head. His armor, also gold, gleams in the light that is streaming into wherever they are. That's when her eyes widen, taking in the full view of exactly where she and Loki have landed. It's beautiful - an intricate gold dome that perfectly matches the man in front of her - and the craftsmanship alone is far beyond anything she's ever seen before.

"W-who," she sputters, before the man calmly pushes her out of the way and lifts Loki into his arms as if he were weightless. "Who are you? Where are we?"

"My name is Heimdall," he calls out to her, leaving her behind. She scrambles to her feet, running after him out of the golden dome. "Welcome to Asgard."

 


	45. Asgard

**THE NEXT FEW HOURS**  pass in a blur. After arriving in Asgard, and being absolutely dumbfounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of the citadel, Anna sits in a corner of the infirmary whilst the healers work on Loki in the next chamber. Head in her hands, she sighs as she counts the seconds ticking by slowly. Without a phone, watch, or clock, it's impossible to tell how much time has passed, but it feels like its been ages. Then again, this is a different world - literally. Who knows if time passes the same way?

A gentle hand rests on Anna's shoulder, prompting her to jerk upright. Her blue eyes are red-rimmed and puffy, no longer a vibrant blue-grey, her expression is clouded with sadness and worry.

"I apologize for startling you, my dear," The woman standing in front of her says. Incredibly regal, the woman's long strawberry blonde hair is plaited around the crown of her head, the ends streaming down her back in a cascade of curls. Clad in pale blue with golden armor covering her shoulders and chest in a strikingly beautiful fashion, she stands nearly six foot tall.

"Is it...is he..." Anna's voice breaks, but no tears fall. She couldn't cry anymore even if she wanted to, and - at this point - she's decided to be strong for Loki. Whether or not she's successful is another story.

"No, no," the woman pacifies her. "He will be fine, of that I am certain. I simply thought you might wish to...freshen up, I believe is how Midgardians would say it?"

Anna looks at her with curiosity only to be struck by the kindness in the woman's eyes, "I shouldn't. He might wake up...I want to be here..."

The woman laughs, a delightfully airy sound, "If I know Loki, he won't wake up without an audience. You are in no danger of missing him. Besides, Odin will want to speak with you soon, and we can't have you looking disheveled."

"Odin?" Anna questions. "As in...Odin? The king, Odin?"

"Is there another Odin?" The woman lifts a playful eyebrow, reaching to grab Anna's hand and pull her to her feet. She wraps an arm around her shoulders, guiding her out of the chamber and into the gilded corridor.

"What thoughts do you have of Loki?" She asks Anna after a moment of silence, keeping her voice low.

"He..." Anna swallows, reminding herself of her promise to stay strong. She won't be one of those weeping women who depend upon men. "He is a conflicted man."

The woman nods, "How very diplomatic of you."

Anna flushes pink, realizing that the woman is poking fun at her answer, and continues, "It's just that there is this...darkness in him, but I don't believe it's his nature. I think that he believes it is, which makes it all the more difficult to overcome, but..." she pauses, remembering his vow to protect her and their first kiss, "he is a good man."

"And you care for him?" She asks.

"I haven't...I mean, I don't..." Anna smiles at herself. "Yes. Yes, I care for him. Far more than I wanted to."

They pass various guards, servants, and nobles, all of whom bow their heads in respect toward Anna and her guide. The woman simply smiles, gently steering Anna through the halls and into a lavish set of chambers where a flock of handmaidens await.

"Oh, I don't..." Anna begins to object, trying to step away from the eager hands of the young women.

"Nonsense," The woman waves her off, allowing the onslaught of the handmaidens. "You have saved the life of my son. Helping you prepare to meet my husband is the least I can do."

Anna's eyes widen as she croaks, "Son?"

The women all laugh at her shocked face as she realizes that Loki's mother - the queen - had just led her through the halls of Asgard. Her cheeks burn red. She just told the queen of Asgard that she, a human, has feelings for her son.

"Yes, my child," The queen tells her. "My name is Frigga, mother of Loki and Thor."

Before Frigga ducks out of the chamber, Anna could've sworn that the queen gave her an ornery wink, and she finally releases the breath she had been holding in. The swarm of women begin to remove her ragged clothing while she replays the conversation in her mind, and she lets them push her into a steaming bathtub of water scented with something similar to lavender and chamomile. Scrubbing every inch of her clean, soon she is out of the bath and clothed in a powder blue gown while two women braid her hair behind her.

The dress floats down over one shoulder, tight around her chest and skimming down over her waist to the ground. It's softer than any silk she's ever felt before, but the fabric seems surprisingly durable. A single silver pendant hangs from her neck, complementing the way her dress highlights her neck and shoulders, with a long flat rectangle with a single line imprinted down the middle which the women insist is a rune for her protection. To finish her ensemble, the women slip her feet into delicate silver slippers, and a warm navy shawl is wrapped around her shoulders.

Once they've finished fawning over her, one of the ladies tucks Anna's arm into her own and guides her back out into the halls. They aren't traveling in the same direction Frigga brought her, something which causes a pang of distress to shoot through Anna, until the woman stops abruptly in front of a pair of giant golden doors with a guard posted on either side.

"My lady," she says with a small bow, turning to walk away.

"Wait," Anna calls after her. "What am I supposed to do?"

The doors behind her open, so Anna spins and gasps at the sight of the throne room.

"Come," a booming voice echoes through the hall, beckoning her to step inside. A man sits on an ornate golden throne in the distance, one eye covered by a golden patch, and a large scepter in one hand.

Odin.


	46. Odin

**"SO YOU**  are the mortal woman for whom Heimdall opened the Bifrost," Odin states, his strong voice filling the room with ease. "You are the reason our laws were broken, tradition that has been carried down for millennia, gone in an instant."

Anna walks toward him, resisting the urge to fiddle with her fingers or run in the opposite direction. As she approaches the throne, she hesitates for a moment unsure of what the protocol is in front of the Asgardian king before settling with an awkward curtsey and a deep bow of her head. The throne room is massive and completely bare of life, aside from Odin, the Allfather, and herself. She shivers at the expanse of it, this enormous chamber so devoid of life and emotion, and the king sitting - larger than life - on his throne in front of her.

"Your highness," she replies, embarrassed by how small she sounds in comparison with him. "I..."

"You do not realize the consequences of your actions," the Allfather criticizes her, cutting her off with a wave of his hand. "You do not belong here, yet like a moth to the flame you come. Why?"

"I...I didn't mean to come here," Anna defends herself. "This wasn't my choice. Heimdall - he brought Loki here, not me. I just..."

Odin scoffs, "You clung to his back like a parasite."

"No! He was dying - he could  _still_  be dying," she argues. "Why does it matter if I'm here as long as Loki is safe now? I won't be here long, we'll leave, as soon as he's--"

" _You_  shall leave," he commands. "The instant Loki awakens, you shall depart from Asgard never to return. Loki is a criminal, a murderer, and yet you sheltered him. Why? I have been told of your actions on Midgard, the role you played in the imprisonment of my son, Thor. How many have suffered due to your actions? The rest of the Avengers? Jane Foster? Who else do you intend to snare with your honey?"

She doesn't respond, choosing to break contact with Odin's one eye to stare at her feet. He stares at her, his face devoid of emotion, the experience of years of ruling a kingdom allowing him to maintain his emotions with ease.

"What are your intentions toward Loki?" Odin asks, leaning back in his throne. "Am I to sit back and watch whilst you bring about the downfall of another son?"

Anna clenches her fists, trying to contain her anger and frustration, "No! I...I thought...I didn't mean for any of that to happen. Thor and the others, I would never do anything to hurt them. Loki..."

"Regardless of how far he has fallen, it will never be far enough to be one with a human," Odin interrupts. "Even if he does possess some sort of affinity toward you, it will be easy to overcome. In all likelihood, you are nothing more than a toy - a pawn - in one of Loki's endless schemes, and I advise you to recognize your place as such. I will not wait to discover what he has planned. He is doomed to spend his fate in the dungeons of Asgard."

The manner of Odin's speaking tells Anna that he is done with her, and she watches as he stares her down, daring her to speak, to defy him. Biting her lip to hold back tears, she slowly turns and begins the long walk back to the double doors. Her mind is racing, replaying Odin's words, until finally she pauses and whirls around - rushing toward the throne.

"You're wrong," she spits out, clearly affronting the Allfather. "Your son is a good man. He took an oath to protect me, then he risked his life to save mine. If...if he is just using me, which I don't believe he is, then I don't care. I care for him, which is more than you can say."

Odin freezes, his grip on the golden scepter tightening in a way that makes Anna suddenly nervous that she's made a horrible mistake. She takes a step back as the Allfather stands, his presence towering over her both in physical stature and due to his elevated position on the throne. Slowly, he moves down the steps to the throne until he stands on even ground with Anna, less than a foot from her.

"Do not presume to know my affections toward my own son," Odin hisses, rage boiling beneath his skin.

Hesitating, Anna whispers, "If you loved him, you would not be here with me."

"It is precisely because I love him that I am here with you," he responds, his voice softer than she expected, causing Anna to stare at him in wonder. "I do not know what possessed Loki to lead the Chitauri in a crusade against Earth, and it gnaws at my soul every day that I did not see it coming. I failed him - as a king, as a  _father_  - and I feel the weight of those who died upon my conscience that I did not do more."

Odin stands in silence, while Anna is unsure of how to respond to his admission of failure toward his son. She's torn between what Loki has told her of this man and what her heart tells her after his confession. It's clear that he is flawed, yes - even as a god - but she cannot blame him for feeling some semblance of responsibility for Loki's actions. She could see it in Loki's eyes, hear it in his voice, how much he craves approval - to prove himself worthy - but it was this man who forever chained him into the shadow of Thor.

"Do you love him?" The Allfather asks, bringing his gaze to match hers. The question catches Anna by surprise, causing a wave of anxiety to bubble up in her chest. She's terrified by it, by the answer waiting to erupt from the question. They've only known each other for a few weeks, and Anna spent most of the time hating Loki for who he was and what he has done.

After her fiance's death, she wasn't certain she wanted to love again - let alone whether or not she would be able. Now, she stands before Odin, King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms, talking about a man who was willing to do anything to protect her even after she betrayed him. With a gasp, the answer hits her like a firework exploding in her chest and spreading throughout her body like wildfire.

"Yes." 


	47. Confession

**IT'S BEEN A WEEK**  since Loki and Anna arrived in Asgard. Anna spent most of her time in the infirmary chambers with the unconscious prince, breaking only for meals with Frigga and rest. Even then, she did not sleep, but spent hours tormented by nightmares of Magnus and the horrors inflicted upon both her and Loki. In spite of the stress, Asgard has been kind to her. Her body has been restored to health following her torture. Color returned to her cheeks, and her blue eyes - although filled with worry for Loki - are regaining their previous luster.

Now, she sits next to Loki with a book on her lap, staring at the pages without absorbing any of the words. Frigga has provided a constant stream of reading material for her, but Anna cannot find it in herself to dive into a story whilst worrying about Loki. The healers are certain that the raven-haired prince will make a full recovery, but Anna is terrified of the reality that their return to Asgard may bring. After all, she is a mortal and not Loki's 'equal', according to Odin, which meant there would be difficulties ahead.

"Should I be worried that you have not finished the page by now?" A deep voice pulls Anna from her thoughts, and her face brightens at the sight of Loki watching her with one eye open. She smiles and closes the book, then reaches forward to squeeze his hand. The healer, Eir, bustles in before she can respond to him, so she stays in her chair beside him instead of showering him with affection like she wants to do.

"I am perfectly well," Loki says, clearly annoyed, as he closes both eyes and sighs whilst Eir checks his vitals. She smirks and winks at Anna. The brunette stifles a laugh, and Loki's eyes flash open to stare at her.

"Move slowly, highness," Eir instructs, stepping back from the bed. "You have been healed of all major damage, but you will need sleep."

Loki groans, pushing himself upright with a hiss of pain, "Haven't I already been sleeping?"

"Rest," Eir insists. "Or you'll spend more time in these chambers."

He bites his tongue, rolling his eyes at the woman behind her back as she leaves the room, before slipping his legs off the side of the bed so his bare feet touch the cool ground. Anna places the book on the ground and stands to offer Loki her arm. He brushes her off, shaking his head, and stands before stumbling forward.

"Be careful," Anna warns as she tries to steady him. "Don't over-exert yourself."

Loki lifts an eyebrow, then he glances down at Anna's arm which is wrapped around his waist.

"I can walk on my own volition," he tells her with an edge. She blushes and moves to release him, but he captures her hand and brings it to his lips. "I am sorry. It is difficult being in Asgard again."

Anna smiles and shrugs, "I missed you."

"How foolish of you," Loki replies, his green eyes sparkling. He lifts his hand to her cheek, brushing his thumb across her soft skin, before leaning forward to press his lips against hers. The kiss is gentle at first, and Loki's hand moves to Anna's hair as he deepens the kiss. She snakes her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his, until there is no space left between them. A moan slips from her lips as his kisses move up her jawline to her ear, and he smiles at the sound before capturing her mouth once again with his own.

"Loki," she murmurs, unable to detach herself from him. He kisses her again, his tongue exploring the inside of her mouth with equal parts passion and gentleness, leaving her craving more of him. His other hand clings to her waist, keeping her flush against him, and Anna swears she can feel his heart beating against her chest. The sensation leaves her breathless, her heart racing as she allows herself to get lost in his kiss, and she completely forgets what she was going to say.

Behind them, the door opens to the chamber and they separate instantly. A guard steps into the room, ignoring their disheveled state, and bows to Loki.

"The Allfather requests your presence," the guard tells them.

Loki groans, "Can he not wait? I should think I need more than five minutes of consciousness before forced to undergo the inquisition."

The guard doesn't respond, so Loki steals another kiss from Anna whilst intertwining their fingers then pulls her with him through the heavy doors and into the corridor. His shoulders are tense, she notices, and his grip on her hand aches after only a few moments. They breeze through the halls, and Anna can't help but wonder at the many people who stop and stare at Loki as they pass.

"Loki," a voice from behind them calls out, and the tall Asgardian prince freezes midstep. He turns, still clutching Anna's hand tightly, to see Frigga standing less than five feet from them. A warm smile is stretched across her face, the queen rushes to embrace her son. At first he hesitates, then Loki buries his face in his mother's hair and wraps his arms around her.

Anna smiles at the reunion of mother and son. No matter what Loki says about his adopted family, it's obvious how much he adores Frigga. She begins to take a step back, allowing them space, but Frigga moves quickly from Loki to Anna. The queen lifts Anna's chin so their eyes meet and greets Anna with a kiss on the cheek.

"Happiness becomes you, my dear," Frigga tells her, causing Anna to blush. Loki smirks beside them, enjoying the sight of the flaming pink color spreading across her cheeks. "I am glad you found my son."

"As am I," Anna replies softly. "Thank you for your hospitality, your Highness. I appreciate all you've done for me during my stay in Asgard."

Frigga smiles, "Please, call me Frigga."

A soft smile tugs at the corner of Loki's mouth as he watches the interaction between his mother and Anna. It fills him with joy to watch the two women closest to his heart together, but a pang of regret prevents him from losing himself in the moment. How he could be so lucky despite his previous actions - his true, monstrous nature - he'll never understand. Even now, the thought dulls the sparkle in his green eyes.

"We must go," Loki's voice is filled with remorse. "The Allfather awaits."

The queen sighs, nodding, "Do not cling to bitterness toward your father--"

"He's not my father," the prince interrupts. Anna frowns, taking Loki's hand in her own and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She knows how much he resents Odin, but she's also seen a glimpse of how much Odin loves his son. If only Loki could see it as well.

"Am I not your mother?" Frigga asks gently. "We raised you, Loki, and loved you as our own. Whether or not you have my blood is irrelevant. You have my heart."

Loki turns his face away, unwilling to show any emotion, and Frigga gives Anna a sad smile. Clearly, she's been trying for years to bridge the gap between father and son, but both are too stubborn to yield. The queen strokes Loki's cheekbone, then she turns and departs. Once she's gone, Loki exhales shakily, his shoulders drooping.

"Loki," Anna looks up at him.

"I do not wish to speak of it," Loki states firmly.

"But she loves you," Anna presses. "They both do."

He scoffs, dropping her hand, "How could they? How could they love the monster they tried so hard to keep hidden in the dark?"

"Easily," she replies, exasperated. "You're their son not a monster. The man you are has nothing to do with where you came from but how you act."

"And my actions have proven myself worthy of love?" Loki laughs, a bitter sound filled with anger. "I am a murderer. I have killed so many that my hands are forever stained with their blood. With the blood of your betrothed. Who could love such a thing?"

She uses her fingers to wipe away the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Her heart aches for him, aches for the pain caused by a childhood of being overlooked by another. The pain that comes with discovering your parentage was a lie, hidden from you for so long. The pain that would cause a man to convince himself that  _be_  the monster that he believes himself to me. Were it not for that conviction, Anna is convinced that Loki would not have led the Chitauri army against Earth. Instead, he allowed himself to be led astray in a misguided attempt to prove himself - whether as a monster or as someone worth loving, she isn't sure - and so many suffered because of it, including Loki.

"I do," Anna whispers, his green eyes turning to meet her blue ones. "I love you."


	48. Farewells

**LOKI'S EYES WIDEN**  at the three words that just escaped from Anna's lips. His heart aches to repeat them to her, professing his adoration for every inch of her body and soul, but his mind will not allow him to do so. She deserves more than he is capable of giving, of that much he is certain. Nearly paralyzed by fear, by the concept of opening his heart up to someone instead of pushing everyone away, Loki stares blankly at Anna without speaking. There are wheels in motion inside his head that she cannot decipher, and the thought makes her uncomfortable.

"Say something," she looks up at him earnestly, wishing he would cross the distance between them and take her into his arms. A brief look of panic and embarrassment flashes on her face as she realizes that he may not return the sentiment, but Loki lifts a hand to caress her cheek and soothes her fear.

"Anna," he begins, guiding her to the side of the corridor. "I apologize. I did not mean--"

Anna bumps into a guard, toppling to the ground and losing her contact with Loki. The guard looks in horror at the brunette spilled on the floor, quick to help her to her feet. In the commotion, Anna looks to see four armored warriors approaching them from a distance. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three - Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg - barrel down the corridor toward them, and she scrambles to her feet next to a now distant-looking Loki, who - oddly enough - takes a few steps away from her. In the same moment, a booming voice pulls her attention in the opposite direction only to see Odin appear. Clad in gold armor, the king stares down Loki, whose face goes blank at the sight of his adopted father.

"Loki," Odin calls out, his voice brimming with unmasked disappointment. "Say your farewells. The girl is to return to Midgard immediately."

Anna looks confused, "What? Why?"

"You led this organization to my son," Odin tells her, his grip on her arm gentle as he pulls her with him down the corridor. "Now you shall lead Lady Sif and the Warriors Three to this organization to free him."

Lady Sif bows slightly, "We shall not fail you, my King."

"Who's we?" Anna asks. "Who are you?"

"I am called Sif," she tells Anna, before motioning to the Warriors Three. "This is Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg. We shall accompany you to Earth." 

Eyes wide as she takes in the warriors, Anna looks back at Loki, whose arms are promptly captured by two guards. She watches as he is dragged in the opposite direction, a lump forming in her throat. He begins to struggle against them until his expression goes blank, and he ceases to resist. Whatever is happening is moving so fast, she's struggling to wrap her mind around it. Odin appeared out of nowhere, his imposing presence grating against Anna's nerves as much as Loki's rapidly changing demeanor. 

"Loki?" Anna calls, panic rising in her chest as she fails to tug her arm out of Odin's firm grasp.

Loki says nothing, and his green eyes are filled with a mixture of sadness and an emotion Anna cannot identify as Odin separates them further. His fingers twitch by his sides, aching to do something - anything - but he remains compliant with the guards as he watches the distance between them grow. As much as it tears at his soul, part of him knows it is for the best. She cannot be so close to him, to the poison that is his very existence, if she is to avoid harm. No, allowing her to leave is the best gift he can give to her. This heartbreak must happen, this he knows.

They pass out of sight until Anna cannot see Loki disappear along with the guards. Squeezing back tears as Odin guides her out of the palace, they stop in front of a group of horses and she watches as the warriors mount. 

"You can't," she stammers, digging in her heels. "Please, let him come with me. Let him help us." 

"He cannot," Odin replies. "Loki cannot be trusted outside of Asgard without sufficient restraint, and his actions toward Thor have proven this time and time again. He will be returned to the dungeons, where he is lucky enough to be allowed to live out the rest of his days."

Anna chokes back a sob, shaking her head. 

"Don't do this," she begs. "You'll only make it worse. He needs to know how much you love him - how much I love him. If you abandon him again, he'll resent you even more." 

"It is done," Odin replies grimly, his jaw set as unidentifiable emotions ripple across his face. 

He grips Anna's waist, carefully lifting her to mount Hogun's horse, despite her protestations.

"No," she cries, attempting to kick out against him. "Please...please..." 

His strength is too much for her, and soon Hogun's strong arms wrap around her waist to settle her into the saddle. The warrior snaps the reigns, and the horse jolts forward down the Bifrost while tears pour down Anna's face as they leave Odin standing alone.

Once he is certain that Anna and the warriors are well on their way, the Allfather sighs. With a sad look on his face, he re-enters the palace and begins making his way through the corridors with a determined pace. He passes several guards who all bow at the sight of him, none brave enough to address the King. 

Night begins to fall, and the golden halls are set aflame by the warm red-orange glow from the sky outside. Soon, Odin finds himself standing in near darkness in a dimly lit corridor deep within the palace. He nods to the guards outside the entrance to his vault, waiting for them to open the doors for him.

"Leave me," he commands, nodding to the two guards patrolling the inside of the vault.

After they leave, the doors latch behind him and Odin smirks. His appearance shimmers away, the illusion falling to reveal Loki clad in his full Asgardian armor. His golden, horned helmet sits atop his ebony hair, and he exhales - pausing for a moment - before spotting exactly what it is his glittering green eyes are searching for.

The Tesseract.

 


	49. The Vault

**BY THE TIME**  they reach Heimdall, Anna's tears have slowed to a trickle, and she wipes them away before taking one last look behind her at Asgard. The sky is a brilliant blue, and the palace is framed with mountains in the distance. Part of her wishes she could've explored the city more, gone with Loki to the wilderness, retraced the steps of his childhood. Anything more than this. She knew Odin wanted her gone, but this is excessive. A nagging thought tells her that something is wrong, and she definitely isn't the type to sit by and let it happen.

Hogun dismounts the horse first before offering a hand to assist Anna, which she promptly ignores. Hopping down, she earns a look of respect from Sif, amusement from Volstagg, and...a wink. Fandral winked at her. Ignoring him, she strides into the golden chamber where she arrived a little over a week ago with Loki.

"Lady Anna," A booming voice hits her eardrums the second she steps inside, and she is shocked to see Thor standing in front of her in all his glory. He grips Mjölnir in one hand, and his red cape billows behind him as he crosses the room to engulf her in a hug. A single cut mars his face, and she frowns into his shoulder.

"Thor--" she starts to speak, confused as she attempts - and fails - to pull out of his hug.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lady Sif's voice cuts through, interrupting her and causing Thor to drop Anna and beam at his friends. "How are you here?"

"My friends!" Thor bellows. Anna winces, taking a step away from him.

Lady Sif frowns, "The Allfather informed us that you were imprisoned. We were to come free you and your Midgardian companions."

"There is no need," Thor smiles. "Stark succeeded in removing the technology in both Jane and Lady Potts that prevented our escape."

Technology? What technology? Anna looks baffled. Come to think of it, how did Restitution manage to hold Thor, the God of Thunder, against his will? Surely those magic-restricting shackles wouldn't have been enough to hold him.

Heimdall steps up, "I told the King of Thor's imminent return not two hours ago. When did you speak to him?"

"Just now," Fandral replies. "We met Loki and this lovely lady in the corridor. The Allfather approached us and sent us on our way. Loki was led away by guards."

Thor's smile disappears, and Anna's look of confusion gradually transitions into one of recognition. Odin called Loki to appear before him in the throne room, which was the opposite direction from whence he came. Granted, she doesn't know Asgard at all, so there could always be a back route, but why would Odin come  _find_  Loki when he refused to even visit him when he was unconscious?

"Loki and I were on our way to meet Odin, I mean - the King - when we saw them," Anna adds. "I fell, and when I stood up Loki was acting strange, and Odin appeared. It all happened so quickly."

"Did you see him?" Thor grabs Anna's arm, shaking it lightly. "Did you see Loki as you fell?"

Anna shakes her head, "No. I don't know. What do you mean?"

"We must go," Thor instructs, leading the way from the chamber with Anna in tow. His grip on her arm smarts, his strength more than he realizes it to be, and she realizes how gentle Odin had been when he led her through the castle.

Odin. That look in his eyes when she told him how Loki needed to know how much Odin loves him, how much Anna loves him. She wasn't able to read it then, but now she recognizes it. It's the same look Loki gave her when she told him she loved him. Baffled. Lost. Afraid to say more. Longing to do so.

"Can Loki change his appearance?" Anna mumbles to herself as Thor leads them down the Bifrost back into Asgard.

"What did you say?" Thor demands, his blue eyes stormy.

Anna looks up at him, "Can Loki change his appearance? With his magic?"

"Yes," the God of Thunder replies. "That and so much more. He can also create duplicates of himself - illusions that would fool even the wisest observer."

Fool. He fooled Anna. When she fell, he was pushing her backward. He pushed her into that guard, so she fell and broke her sight of him, which would give him the opportunity to replace his physical appearance - the one she had been clinging to - with a duplicate and disguise himself as Odin. But why? Why send her away? Why do all of this?

She glances around her at the others, eyes slowly widening. He wanted to remove any potential barriers. Anna. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. With them gone, who would stop him from anything he has planned?

"Lady Sif, take Volstagg and Hogun to the throne room," Thor instructs. "Find my father and mother. Ensure their safety and alert the guards. Remember - Loki could be disguised as anyone. Do what you must to verify identities."

She nods, beckoning for Volstagg and Hogun to follow her. Thor motions for Fandral to come forward, dropping Anna's arm with a sigh.

"My friend, take Lady Anna to her chambers and lock the door," he tells Fandral. "Do not open it for anyo--"

"Wait, what?" Anna interrupts. "No, I'm going with you. I'm not getting locked in a room to do nothing."

Thor shakes his head, "It is not safe, my lady. We do not know what mischief Loki has planned, nor do we know what part you might play."

She crosses her arms in front of her body, jerking her shoulder away from Fandral's hand.

"I'm not a traitor," she says, her voice low and soft. Anna's blue eyes are earnest, aching from the memory of Rifat and those she injured from her involvement with Restitution. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen, Thor, I swear. Please, let me help."

Fandral shrugs, and Thor rolls his eyes, "Fine, but stay behind me."

He takes off in a fast walk, causing Anna to jog to keep up with him, before speeding up into a run. The corridors move by in a blur as they weave deeper and deeper into the castle, until they arrive at a set of large doors watched by two guards. Thor nods, and the guards move to open the doors for them.

A burst of blue light erupts through the space, hitting Thor in the chest and sending him flying backward. Fandral rushes to him and helps him sit up, both watching with wide eyes as Loki steps forward with the Casket of Ancient Winters - the weapon from the realm of the Frost Giants - and directs it toward them once again.

"Where is it?!" Loki roars, taking a step toward them. "The Tesseract in the vault - it was an illusion. It's not here." 

Anna rushes toward him, tackling him to the ground. His helmet clatters to the floor along with the Casket, and she rolls on top of Loki before looking down at him. She gasps at the sight of him, his blue skin covered with intricate markings and his green eyes now glowing red.

"Now you know the monster that I truly am," he spits out, careful not to touch her in his Jotunn form. "Do you still love me? Do you still believe Odin loves me?"

Anna reaches out to stroke his cheek, but Loki knocks away her hand and flips her so she is on her back beneath him. His knees trap her arms to her sides, and she can do little to fight him. Breathing heavily, she struggles in vain against his weight.

"You don't have to do this, Loki," Thor's voice draws their attention from the doorway. He stands supported by Fandral, whose sword is drawn and held out toward them.

"You know nothing," Loki spits at Thor. "Always the favored son, you know not of the sacrifices I have made - the sacrifices I continue to make. I must return the Tesseract to its rightful owners. I have no choice. If I do not..."

He looks down at Anna, tenderness in his eyes. His fingers ache for her skin, to feel the softness of her lips beneath his, to sweep the curling locks of brown hair away from her eyes, but he restrains himself.

"I love you," she whispers, and his eyes widen in shock at the words. "I still love you. Don't do this."

Loki's skin ripples back to his Asgardian form, and he brushes his thumb across her lips. His green eyes are filled with sadness, anger, and something she cannot quite identify. He can feel Anna's heartbeat racing, every touch of his skin against hers sparking an electricity between the two of them that sends him wild with desire. 

He smiles down at her, afraid of the words he's about to say - words he's been too terrified to admit to himself, let alone to the blue-eyed brunette staring up at him.

"I do this  _because_  I love you." 


	50. Disappointed

**ANNA'S BLUE EYES LOCK**  onto Loki's emerald ones, a mixture of shock, joy, and fear dancing across her features. She loves him, that much she knows, but she didn't expect to hear those words from him. No, however much she hoped for them, after he hesitated in the corridor - after what she learned about his complicated upbringing - she assumed the worst. Unfairly, she believed Loki's heart to be frozen, slow to thaw, much like his Jotunn heritage.

"Please, Loki," she pleads, "You don't have to do this."

He stares at her for a moment, memorizing the look of concern on her face. Her blue eyes are tinged with grey, emphasized by a rim of navy around the irises. If only he could stare into those eyes without ceasing. Standing, he takes her hand ever-so-gently and pulls her to her feet. Thor approaches with Fandral, but Anna holds out a hand to stop them from coming any closer.

"I love you," Loki tells her, stepping closer to press his lips firmly against hers. It's brief - too brief - and he breaks the kiss to rest his forehead against hers. "I cannot bear to lose you."

"You're not losing me," Anna insists, cupping his face with her hands. She brushes a strand of his long black hair away from his face. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"You do not understand," he murmurs, closing his eyes and relishing the feel of her hands against his face. "You cannot understand."

Thor speaks up, "Then help us, brother. Help us understand this madness."

Loki flashes a look of hatred at Thor, his fist clenching at his side as he straightens. Anna grabs his arm, preventing him from lunging at his brother's throat. Still, she can't hold his full strength and she's jerked along with him when he rushes toward Thor.

"You cannot possibly comprehend this," Loki seethes, inches from Thor's face. "All my life, everything was promised to me only to be taken away, and now...now I have to watch it happen all over again. I cannot - no, I  _will not_  - watch the woman I love perish. I will do whatever it takes, even if I must kill the whole of Asgard to retrieve that blasted cube and return it to Earth so they do not take her away from me."

His voice breaks from emotion, and he turns back to Anna who is watching with wide eyes.

"Please forgive me," he tells her. "Please--"

Odin's voice interrupts him, and everyone's attention snaps to the doorway where Odin stands. Frigga trails behind him, along with Lady Sif, Volstagg, and Hogun.

"Loki," the Allfather's voice rings with disappointment, a sound that sends shivers down Anna's spine. "What is the meaning of this?"

The fallen prince steps in front of Anna, one arm clinging to her while he positions his body as a barrier between her and Odin. Frigga moves forward to approach him, but Odin throws out a hand to stop her.

"Where is it?" Loki growls.

"I do not know of what you speak," Odin begins.

"WHERE IS IT?" Loki roars. "Do not play games with me, old man."

The king sighs, "It is hidden. I removed it from the vault until you could be proven trustworthy with your freedom."

"So you assumed I'd fail," he croaks, his green eyes sparking with rage. "Once again, you did not believe in me - you  _expected_  me to disappoint you. Why am I not surprised? As a son, as a ruler, and now as a man - I can do nothing right in the eyes of Odin, the great and mighty Allfather. Time and time again, you have proven I can never be good enough."

"No, Loki," Odin snaps. "You are not good enough. Not anymore. You have shown on numerous occasions that you cannot be trusted. Even after your mother begged for me to spare your life - even after your release from the dungeons - still you hold a grudge, still you act in such foolish ways, and still you place your brother, your family, and the entirety of Asgard at risk. You have squandered the only chance at freedom you will ever be granted."

Anna's heart feels as if it is breaking at the sound of Odin's words. She aches for Loki, for the approval and acceptance he seeks. Frigga adores her son, that much is certain, but Odin's words will only drive a wedge further between father and son. What's more, she knows that Loki will continue to resent Thor, even though his brother loves him unconditionally.

Without warning, her fingers grow weak in Loki's grasp. It feels as if her tongue grows heavy in her mouth, like a weight prevents her from speaking. Struggling to gasp for oxygen, her lungs are no longer able to fill to the full capacity, and her heartbeat skips a beat whilst the room starts to spin around her. She tries to focus on Loki - on his tall, lithe figure clad in his green and black Asgardian armor - but her eyes blur. Suddenly, her legs turn to jello and her muscles are no long able to hold her upright as the weakness spreads through her body like acid, eating her body from the inside out.

"L-Loki," she mumbles before collapsing to the ground.


	51. It's My Fault

**THE FALLEN ASGARDIAN PRINCE**  whirls around, barely catching Anna in his arms before she hits the ground. Eyelids fluttering as she struggles to keep them open, her breath catches in her chest and she coughs weakly.

"Oh gods no," Loki murmurs into her hair, holding her close against his chest. "No, no...please, no."

He rocks her gently, while Thor and Frigga step forward out of concern. Odin's eyes narrow at the sight, but he says nothing, smartly unwilling to anger his adopted son even further. A few tears well up in the corner of Loki's eyes, but he squeezes his eyes shut to push them away. Slowly, Frigga kneels down next to her son to check on the fallen Midgardian woman.

"Loki," She croons, placing one gentle hand on his shoulder and the other on Anna's forehead. "She's burning with fever."

"It's my fault...all my fault," he sputters, smoothing her brown hair away from her face. "I failed...I failed you."

"We must take her to Eir," Frigga nods at Thor, who steps forward and offers to lift Anna. Loki growls, shaking his head, and stands carefully with one arm wrapped around her back and the other under her knees. He glares at Odin, part of him wishing he had let Thor carry Anna so he could throttle the King, and passes him quickly as his long legs carry him out of the vault and toward the healer's chambers.

He bursts through the doors, followed closely by Frigga and Thor, while Odin trails with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. The King instructs them to keep watch outside the door should anything happen, and he enters to see Anna gently lowered to a table whilst Eir and her apprentice flit around the room.

"Out," Eir snaps, waving her hands at them. "Out!"

Loki shakes his head, stretching his hands over her body as if willing his magic to flow into her veins and repair any damage. He knows it won't work - it won't heal her completely - but it will do enough to slow the poison working through her veins. Within seconds, his body begins to sag against the side of the table, and Eir pulls him away to break his focus with Anna.

"Don't, my prince," she warns, narrowing her eyes at Loki before turning back to Anna. "Without a firm grasp on what ails her, there is no guarantee that her body would accept the transfer of your life force. Even if you intended to trade your life for hers, it might not work, and both of you may suffer the same fate."

"I don't care," Loki mutters, stepping toward Anna once more. Thor stops him, wrapping a firm arm around his chest and pulling him back. He struggles against the God of Thunder, but he is too weak to put up a fight. "Let me go! She's dying...she's dying, and it's my fault. I should have stopped this."

Thor frowns, dragging Loki to the corner of the room. Frigga watches her sons sadly, nodding at Thor before leading Odin into the hallway so they are left alone with the unconscious Midgardian and her healer.

"Why do you say such things, brother?" Thor inquires, his blue eyes searching Loki's for some sort of explanation. He can see is anger and desperation, but the pain of heartbreak is written across his face. "How could you have stopped this?"

Loki sputters, shaking his head as a single tear slips down his cheek, "Th-they did this, the ones who took us. They told me to return the Tesseract, or Anna would be..."

His voice breaks, and he looks over at the brunette laid out on Eir's table. When Magnus tortured Loki in Restitution's compound, he used heat to break him. Despite his Jotunn strength, the lack of nutrition, proper rest, and magic meant he could do little to withstand the pain of fire blazing against his cold skin. It wasn't the first time Loki had been tortured, nor did he suspect it would be the last, so he managed to keep his mouth shut for the entirety of the session. Magnus - discouraged - was forced to grasp at straws to attempt to get a reaction from Loki. Unluckily, he found the right button to press on the first try.

Anna.

Magnus told Loki that Restitution had implanted a 'kill switch' into Anna when they'd met her, a capsule that would imitate the most severe of Earth's diseases at a rapidly accelerated pace. Their scientists worked relentlessly to create the technology and bioengineer a new virus that could not be treated before the illness killed the host, meaning there was virtually nothing anyone could do to stop it.

The proposition was simple. Loki was tasked with finding the Tesseract and returning it to its rightful owners, in exchange for Anna's life. He was given a week to complete the mission, or - should he fail - they would trigger the release of the virus into her bloodstream and she would die. No matter how much he wanted to ignore the man, to scoff at the idea of risking his life to save Anna's, he knew he didn't have a choice. By that point, Loki had already fallen deeply in love with the Midgardian woman - whether he was willing to admit it or not - and he sincerely believed that her life was worth far more than his own.

Explaining this to Thor in angry, terse sentences, Loki never takes his eyes off Anna and Eir. The healer works tirelessly, but even she begins to look like all hope might be lost. By the time he finishes relating what happened to Thor, his fists are clenched tightly by his sides and shake with rage. The men who did this would pay. Magnus, Restitution, and the organization from which Restitution spawned would all pay.

He seethes at the name of the organization in his thoughts, the name Magnus whispered into his ear before burning the flesh from his chest, the name that is the reason his love is dying on the table in front of him.

Hydra.

Hydra will pay.

 


	52. Severed

**THOR LISTENS**  to his brother patiently, his eyes widening with recognition as Loki tells him of Restitution's threats on Anna's life should he not comply with their demands. After Stark's tower was invaded and they were taken, similar devices were implanted in both Pepper Potts and Jane Foster, allowing the organization to effectively imprison two members of the Avengers with little more than glass walls reinforced with metal bars. In reality, Thor could have escaped from such a prison with his eyes closed, but he would not attempt it out of concern for Jane.

It wasn't until Clint Barton arrived, along with Dr. Banner's, to break them out that a solution was discovered. From within his cell, Stark worked alongside Banner to create a vaccine to inoculate Jane and Pepper while Barton followed Stark's instructions to hack the portion of the building they were in and send it into lockdown, effectively isolating themselves from Restitution until a solution could be found. Thanks to the combined genius of the two men, Barton was able to vaccinate Jane and Pepper and allow for Stark and Thor's release. Without it, they'd still be under Restitution's control.

The same control that Loki is now under.

Sympathy surges through Thor for his brother, and he reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder. 

"Take heart, brother," he encourages him. "I know of a solution. Eir, please step aside."

The god of thunder approaches Anna's side, scooping one hand under her knees and the other under her back before lifting her gently to his chest. Loki jumps forward, furious, as Eir watches in shock.

"What do you think you're doing?" Loki hisses as Thor pushes past him and kicks open the door to the healer's chambers.

"Thor," Odin calls out, causing him to spin around and nod respectfully at his father before turning to Loki.

"I can save her," he tells them. "Or rather, Stark can save her. They did the same to Jane and Lady Pepper, and he was able to develop a cure. Perhaps it's not too late--"

Loki shakes his head in disbelief, "A cure? How can you be certain?"

"Loki..." Frigga places a hand on his shoulder which he shrugs off.

"I am certain, brother," Thor states firmly. "I have seen it with my own eyes. We haven't much time."

Frantically, Loki steps toward Thor to take Anna from him but Odin motions for the guards to seize him. He pulls against them, panic and betrayal flooding his green eyes as he whirls around to face the Allfather.

"Why?" Loki demands, tears filling his eyes. "I swore an oath to protect her, let me save her!"

Odin nods at Thor, whose face is grief-stricken as he watches another guard place magic-binding shackles on Loki's wrists.

"Go," the Allfather tells him, before turning to Loki. "Your brother will return the woman to Midgard, where their healers can tend to her. Heimdall tells me of these men he calls friends, so I have no doubt in their ability to produce a cure."

Pain ripples through Loki's face, every ounce of him struggling against his bonds as Thor takes one final glance at him - swearing to protect and save Anna at whatever the cost - before hurrying from the palace toward the Bifrost. He can feel his heart breaking at the thought of her suffering without him, at the potential for her death, and - even worse - at the idea of her waking without him by her side. She deserves so much better than he, but he is selfish enough to claim her love for his own nevertheless. This forced parting serves only to cleave his soul in two and fill the void with rage toward Odin.

Frigga watches, crestfallen, while Thor takes Anna back to Midgard and Loki continues to struggle against the guards. Her heart aches for her fallen son, the one she favored and loved as her own, and a single tear slides down her cheek at Odin's decision.

"Will you do nothing?" Loki begs her, his voice cracking with emotion. "Will you let him chain me like a dog, again, and throw me in the dungeon whilst my beloved  _dies_?"

The queen sighs, "My son--"

"She will not die," Odin snaps, interrupting Frigga. "Nor should you look to your mother for pity. It is for her sake that you remain alive and standing, given all of your treachery. You should grovel at her feet not question her. I had hoped you would prove yourself in your freedom, but all you have done is strengthen the weight behind my decision. It is for your own good, Loki, as well as the good of the Nine Realms."

Loki laughs, a sickening sound of fury mixed with heart-wrenching anguish, "My own good. What do you care of my well-being? You should have left me to die in Jotunheim rather than force me to endure the pain of being  _your son_."

Frigga gasps, and Odin sighs. He stares at the green-clad prince, disappointment etched in the lines on his face, before nodding to the guards. Loki thrashes against their increased force while they begin to move away, spittle flying from his face as his disheveled black hair sticks to his forehead. He hurls insult after insult at Odin. Screaming as he is pulled down the corridor and back to the dungeons, tears begin to pour down his face. His emerald eyes burn bright with anger against red-rimmed eyes as he watches his father turn away from him, only fueling the flames of his anger and desperation.

Odin exhales, closing his eye until the echoes of Loki's curses fade, "I am sorry, my son." 


	53. Epilogue

**ANNA FIDDLES**  with the silver bracelet on her wrist. It's been a month since she returned to Earth with Thor, a month since she admitted she loved Loki, a month since Odin separated them and sent his son back to the dungeons.

It feels like it's been years without him.

She still can't remember what happened when she left Asgard nor does she remember arriving at the Avengers Tower in New York. Apparently, Thor realized that he and Tony had been manipulated by that bastard Magnus in the same way Loki was - through the ones they loved. She doesn't know when, but Restitution took advantage of her - manipulated her, tortured her, and implanted a kill switch loaded with a deadly virus in her - all for what? Some stupid cube? It still doesn't quite make sense, but Tony insists that it does.

After all, Thor would never have agreed to Restitution's terms. Even with Jane at risk, it would be far easier to manipulate Loki - the broken brother - than the god of thunder. No, the endgame with Thor and Tony and the rest of the Avengers was simply to get them out of the way.

Lucky for Restitution, Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff were both running around the East Coast doing something that had to do with Steve's old war buddy, Bucky Barnes. She saw the footage on TV, the destruction in DC. Some curvy redhead, a journalism student at George Washington University, was interviewed by CNN about the whole ordeal. Anna even caught a glimpse of Natasha - her sister, according to Magnus - standing on the street at the end of the chaos with some kind of a rocket launcher on her shoulder. She was arrested with two men, one of whom Anna didn't recognize, and a girl with purple in her hair who looked absolutely out of place. Part of her would much rather have dealt with Magnus' shit than whoever caused that colossal mess in DC.

Sighing, Anna shakes her head and walks into the restaurant where she's supposed to meet her parents for lunch. Tony didn't want her to go back to London, but she couldn't bear to stay in New York longer than necessary. After he did what he could to revive her, she booked the first ticket back home...or rather, Pepper did. Guilt racked her entire body every time she looked at the strawberry blonde and the bruises that speckled her pale skin, and she could no longer bear the presence of the people she had betrayed. Somehow it all went spectacularly wrong, and now here she is. Alone. Broken. Afraid.

Tony's one requirement was the simple silver bangle around her wrist. It had a distress signal built into it, activated by a codeword that only Anna knew, that would send out a homing beacon to Tony should Restitution find her again. The chances of it happening are slim, given the fact that the Avengers took great pleasure in demolishing their base, but it is still a possibility.

It matches the knotted silver ring on the middle finger of her right hand, which she twists nervously. The feeling of the cool metal against her skin is soothing, and it reminds her of Loki's cold lips pressing against the burns from Magnus' torture. She squeezes her eyes shut at the memory, pushing away the longing deep within her heart, and reopens her eyes as she follows the maître d' through the restaurant to where her adopted parents are waiting for her.

Her eyes land on a familiar brunette several tables in front of them, nervously chattering to a cute guy in a navy jacket.

"This was so fun" she hears the woman say, watching as she jumps up from her table and nearly collides with Anna.

"Jane?" Anna asks, her lips curving in a small smile for the first time in a month.

"Oh my god," Jane throws her arms around her, squeezing her friend tightly. "Anna? You're okay! I'm so glad you're okay. Did Loki--"

Anna's smile disappears, "Um...I..."

Jane sends an awkward smile at the man she left at her table before glancing at the exit. "Can you come with me?" She asks. "Please, please say yes."

The maître d' taps his foot, annoyance etched all over his face, and Anna can see her parents watching her from across the restaurant with timid smiles on their elderly faces. Exhaling, she nods at Jane. The astrophysicist giggles with delight, latching onto Anna's arm, and begins to drag her out of the restaurant.

"Where are we going?" Anna asks, not feeling the least bit guilty at the sound of her parents calling after her. Jane knows Thor and Thor knows Loki, so naturally Anna decides this is her best chance at finding her way back to him. She  _has_  to get back to him. Her heart leaps into her throat at the thought.

Jane grins, "There's an anomaly." 

 

 **END OF BOOK ONE** **  
**

 

**Book 2, All Hail the King, is fully written. It will be posted soon. In the meantime, check out the book trailer for All Hail the King on YouTube:**


	54. Bonus Chapter #1: Hanging With the Team

"So, let me get this straight," Tony quips, pointing at Anna and Natasha whilst clinging to his glass of scotch. "You knew about...baby sister here...and didn't tell us?"

Natasha groans and folds her arms over her chest, and Clint Barton rolls his eyes. It's been two weeks since Thor returned Anna to the tower, nearly dead, and they've finally got their first bit of downtime since then. Tony's house was absolutely destroyed after a very public run in with the Mandarin, who ended up being nothing but a puppet set up by Aldrich Killian to cover up the flaws with his Extremis program. Now, Tony has moved into the tower permanently while Pepper undergoes treatment for Extremis and focuses on repairing the damage done to Stark Industries' stock after Tony's 'escapades'. Steve already moved to Washington D.C. to build a life, choosing to get out of the craziness that is New York City while working at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, meaning it's just been Bruce and Anna at the tower - and now Tony.

Tony brought Natasha back, who subsequently dragged Clint with her, and they've been swapping stories since. Well, Tony's been swapping stories. Everyone else is listening to him enjoy the sound of his own voice.

"What?" Tony asks, "I thought we were a team. Teams share things. You didn't share that you had a sister, which violates the team...pact."

"I thought she was dead, Tony," Natasha reminds him.

He shakes his head and takes a sip of scotch, "Poor excuse for a superspy. Do you believe her?" Tony glances at Anna, "Superspy. Completely fooled. Now that I know it's that easy to pull the blinds over your eyes, Nat, I can't be held accountable for my actions."

"Tony..." the redhead warns him.

"What?" He asks, "I just want to make sure your skills stay sharp. I'm helping. I'm a helper. Isn't that right, Bruce?"

Bruce lifts his hands in surrender from where he's working out calculations in his notebook, "I'm staying out of this."

Clint stands, running a hand through his hair, before heading over to the bar. He grabs three beers from the fridge and pops the tops off each then returns to the sofa to hand one to both Anna and Natasha. If they're going to sit here and listen to Tony, they at least need a little bit of alcohol to make it more tolerable.

Anna smiles at him, taking a sip. After Thor brought her back to Earth, she didn't expect to wake up in the infirmary of the Avengers' Tower with no one but Bruce Banner and Jane Foster to keep her company. Tony had already returned to California, throwing himself into his suits while he coped with the mental fallout of the wormhole in New York  _and_  being captured by Restitution, but it was less than a week and a half before Tony returned with Natasha in tow and Jane went back to work. She was glad to be reunited with her sister, although she couldn't remember her in the least, and she appreciated the opportunity to get to know herself a little bit better.

After everything that's happened, it's nice to be given the opportunity to learn more about the latent abilities programmed into her from her training at the Red Room. She knows Russian, for starters, and it now makes sense why she never had a problem picking up other languages. Her reflexes have always been fantastic, something she always attributed to the years of ballet training in her youth, but Anna has definitely been enjoying exploring her combat skills. She's nowhere near skilled enough to take down Natasha or Clint, but daily training sessions are serving as an excellent distraction from thoughts of Loki.

"You okay?" Clint asks her quietly.

His voice snaps her back to the present, and she nods.

"You sure, space cadet?" Tony questions, lifting an eyebrow. "You seem a little...out of it."

Anna smiles and takes a drink of her beer. "Can you blame me? You never shut up."

Tony narrows his eyes without responding, and Clint lets out a laugh. Even Bruce chuckles to himself while Natasha reaches over to tap her beer bottle against her sister's.

"Wow. You shut up Tony Stark in less than ten words," she says, giving Anna a wink before lifting her bottle. "I'll drink to that."

 


	55. Bonus Chapter #2: Confronting Clint

Anna slams her fist into the punching bag, her rapid left uppercut transitioning smoothly into a powerful right hook, and she whirls around to complete a twisting combination of movements that send the black bag swinging from its chain. The training room in the Avengers' tower is blissfully empty, a rarity since she arrived, and she's been taking advantage of the silence to pound out her frustrations.

The last two weeks without Loki haven't been easy. Add to that a bunch of superheroes and a long-lost sister, and you've got a recipe for emotional turmoil. Luckily, no one blames her for being frustrated, nor do they expect her to be at her best.

They do, however, frequently question her sanity with regards to her feelings toward Loki, but she ignores them. Natasha has been surprisingly understanding, although Anna's convinced she's scared of losing her baby sister again, while Tony makes no attempt to hide his distaste for the Asgardian god. Unfortunately, his jokes and sarcastic comments are nothing compared to Clint Barton's rigid silence in Anna's presence whenever Loki is mentioned.

Shaking her head, she resets her position and sends another combination of punches and kicks toward the punching bag. Sweat drips down her forehead, but she ignores it as the sharp pain in her knuckles distracts her from the pain in her heart.

Her mind drifts to Loki once more and her fist glances off the edge of her bag, sending a searing pain through her hand. Even though she's wearing thick handwraps to protect her skin, the force of the punch connecting at the wrong angle damaged the knuckle at the base of her pinky. Swearing, she shakes out her hand then clutches it to her chest.

The door to the training room swings open, and Anna is embarrassed to see Clint stroll into the room while she clings to her injured hand. Despite similar advanced training from her childhood, pain tolerance like Natasha's is a learned trait. She wipes the tears from the corner of her eyes just as Clint looks up to meet her gaze.

"I'm done," Anna tells him. "I'll leave you the room."

He frowns, "You don't have to go."

Grabbing her water bottle with her uninjured hand, she shrugs, "I get the feeling that you don't like to be alone in the same room as me."

Clint sucks in a breath, and Anna starts to make her way toward the door. The pain in her knuckle has decreased, meaning it probably isn't broken, but it's bad enough that she knows it will hurt to unwrap it. The risk of tears is great, especially since crying over something small is likely to be a gateway to crying about her broken heart. It's been a few days since she'd stopped bursting into the tears at the thought of Loki, and her sleepless nights are only making her tears build up like a ticking time bomb waiting to erupt.

Thus far, Anna's done a decent job of avoiding public tears, and she'd like to keep herself from falling apart in front of Clint.

"Anna," his voice is soft as he touches her shoulder, stopping her from passing him.

The concern is enough to encourage a small trickle of tears to leak from her eyes, and Anna sniffs as she curses inwardly at her weakness. Damn Loki for making her fall in love with him, and damn herself for letting it happen. Then again, she wouldn't have had it any other way.

"What's wrong?" Clint asks, spotting the tears instantly and pivoting her to face him. "Anna? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she nods, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent the floodgate of tears from opening wide. "I just...I hurt my hand."

He hesitates, glancing down to see her clutching her right hand in her left. Black cotton handwraps protect her knuckles, so he can't tell if there's any serious damage. Taking her by the arm, he guides her to a bench at the side of the room and sits next to her before gingerly unwrapping the injured hand.

Anna keeps her eyes shut, focusing on her breathing instead of on the pain stabbing through her heart. She can barely feel Clint's hands unwrapping the boxing wraps from her fingers, and she doesn't even jerk when the fabric catches on her pinky finger and sends a jolt of pain up her hand. Instead, she focuses on her breath and pushing out the heavy weight sitting on top of her lungs.

"It's not broken," Clint tells her, testing the joint carefully. "Just fractured."

He glances up, noticing her strained expression, and grimaces. Clearly, the hand injury isn't the cause of her pain. Anna is Natasha's sister, after all, meaning she's no weakling even with her lack of practice. No, this probably has something to do with that bastard of an Asgardian. Clint's blood boils at the thought of Loki, and he resists the urge to shiver at the memory of Loki's control over his mind.

Sighing, Clint pushes away his anger. Now is not the time to focus on his grievances toward Loki, not when Natasha's sister is clearly shattered by the man's absence. He might not understand why she loves him, but he'd have to be heartless not to feel some sympathy for her.

His voice is low as he asks, "Do you miss him?"

"Every second," Anna replies without thinking.

 


	56. Bonus Chapter #3: Meeting Steve & Sam

"Well, hey there buttercup," Tony quips as Steve steps out of the elevator and onto the main living floor of the Avenger's tower. "Don't you look like a big bundle of patriotic joy delivered right to my doorstep. Lucky me!"

Steve rolls his eyes, "Shut up, Tony."

"Ouch, Cap. Ouch," Tony replies, clutching at his chest. "Spitting in the face of my hospitality. What happened to the good ole boy from Brooklyn? Did your momma raise you up with those manners?"

Anna walks toward the room, the sound of Tony's voice echoing down the hallway before she catches sight of Steve or the other man who followed him off the elevator. She grimaces and debates whether or not she should spin around and head back to her room before shrugging.

"I knew you liked the sound of your own voice, Tony," she calls out, turning the corner to enter the room. "But this is getting excessive."

She spots Steve, a small smile curling up the corners of his mouth, and her face flushes bright red. Halting mid-step, a look of horror comes over her momentarily while the embarrassment passes.

"You must be Anna," Steve says, breaking the silence. "Natasha told me all about you. I'm Steve. Steve Rogers."

Sam steps up next to him, digging his elbow into Steve's ribs and wincing when it does more damage to himself than to the super soldier.

"This is my friend, Sam Wilson," he continues, obliging his friend with a chuckle.

Anna smiles politely, "It's nice to meet both of you."

"Is this why you haven't been responding to any of those online dating profiles I've been sending you?" Tony interrupts, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. "You've already got a 'friend'? I didn't know you were batting for the other team, Cap. I gotta say, there's going to be a lot of broken hearts on your eHarmony profile."

Sam cackles, "Nah, man. He hasn't responded to any of your emails because he still can't figure out how to use his phone after Natasha changed the language setting to Russian."

It's Steve's turn to blush, and Anna can't help but smile at the sight. Clearly, Steve is just as wholesome and good-natured as Natasha told her - maybe even more so - and she's glad she won't be the only one suffering from Tony's incessant teasing. Then again, it looks like Steve gets it from his friend Sam too.

"I can fix that," Anna volunteers, taking pity on the poor man.

Tony mock snores loudly, "Boringggg."

"Much like your company," Anna shoots back at him. "You don't see me complaining."

"Hey, listen, missy," Tony frowns, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You don't get to walk into my house and just say whatever you want. We won the war. Besides, the British aren't supposed to have a sense of humor."

Anna smirks, "I'm sorry, what's that? You want me to break your nose again? Last time, I hadn't trained in twenty years. Now I've been working with Natasha."

He claps his hand over his nose, rubbing it, and shakes his head. Grabbing a bag of grapes from the fridge, Tony gathers his orange juice and moves to leave the room.

"Come get me if we're doing a superhero sleepover tonight," he says over his shoulder. "We can wear matching onesies. Dibs on Batman, since Robin there makes a perfect sidekick."

Sam grumbles underneath his breath, "How the hell you put up with that guy."

"You get used to him," Steve and Anna say in sync.

Anna rubs the back of her neck, "Can I get you guys something to drink? We have beer."

"Beer, please," Sam replies, stepping forward to take a seat at the bar.

Steve shakes his head with a polite 'no, thank you,' so Anna grabs a beer out of the fridge for Sam and herself. Ever since she returned to Earth - well, once she was given the all-clear from the doctors - she started drinking a bit more than she used to. It hasn't become a problem, yet, but the familiar buzz of alcohol burning the edges off her pain isn't the healthiest way of dealing with her separation from Loki.

Popping off the cap, she passes a beer to Sam before taking a swig out of her own.

"Want me to take a look at your phone?" She asks Steve, holding out her hand.

He nods sheepishly, pulling the device out of his pocket before sliding it across the counter to her and taking a seat. A few seconds later, Anna's tapped through multiple screens on the device settings and reverts the phone's language back to English. She taps back to the home screen and slides it back to him.

"You need a better password if you want to keep Natasha from doing that," she recommends. "0-7-0-4 is almost too easy to guess."

Sam chokes back a laugh, barely refraining from spitting out his drink.

"Your password is 0-7-0-4?" He asks Steve, who snags his phone and sticks it back in his pocket. " _The_   _fourth of July_?"

Steve shrugs, "Tony said to set it to something easy for me to remember, like a birthday or something. I barely know how to use the thing, so it's not like I have state secrets on it that need to be protected."

"Wait..." Anna holds up a hand to silence Sam's laughter. "Is your birthday the fourth of July?"

Both of them freeze, waiting for Steve's reaction, as a subtle red creeps up his cheeks before Sam cracks up laughing once more. Anna bites her lip to prevent a smile, patting Steve's hand as he shakes his head.

"I'll take that beer now," he grumbles. "Not that it'll do anything."


	57. Bonus Chapter #4: Training with Cap

After tossing and turning for yet another night, Anna decides to forgo sleep. Whenever she manages to drift off, that's when the nightmares begin anyway, and she wakes suddenly in a cold sweat. Shakily, she throws off her covers and sits upright until her heart beat returns to normal.

Tonight was similar to every other night. Just as her eyelids flutter closed, visions of Loki appear. Sometimes she sees him in Asgard, chained in a dank prison cell - one she's never seen before - and other times they're in the dungeons with the Tesseract. This time, her dreams took her back to their cell at Restitution. Instead of reliving her own torture, she's forced to observe Loki's. They had her chained to a chair on the other side of the observation glass, watching while Magnus brandishes the plasma torch to draw grotesque imagery all over Loki's pale skin. Every strip of glowing blue fire hits him like the crack of a whip, and he cries out in pain while Anna is forced to listen to his screams.

Sometimes she manages to escape her bonds, but inevitably she is met with the cattle prod - electricity crackling from the tip - while it sends a powerful current through her body again and again. Whether she succeeds or fails, she never reaches him in time. The blue gas always seeps from the air vents, snaking toward Loki until he begins convulsing and she's forced to watch him die.

She takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she pushes a strand of hair off her sweat-covered forehead. Normally she wakes up before Loki dies in her nightmares, but tonight the horrors continued until he was dead and Magnus had turned his torture on her as well.

Standing up, Anna changes quickly into workout clothing, forgoing leggings for sweatpants, and pulls her hair into a lazy bun. The circles under her eyes are only growing worse, something cosmetics can only fix to a certain degree, and she can't be bothered to worry about her appearance now.

She makes her way to the training room in silence. When she pushes into the large room, she's surprised to see that she's not alone. Steve occupies one corner, and he's taking out his frustrations on a punching bag that looks like it has definitely seen better days.

"Can't sleep?" She asks softly, watching as he lands another powerful punch before whirling around to face her with a look of surprise.

His eyes soften and he shrugs, "I don't sleep. Not really."

"Me neither," Anna admits. "Although I think you might be a little better equipped for it than I am."

He chuckles, grabbing his water bottle and taking a swig, before unwrapping his hands.

"Natasha told me I should train with you, but she didn't mention that training sessions would happen at 3AM," he jokes.

"Have you spoken to Natasha?"

Steve nods, "I saw her after she testified on Capitol Hill, briefly."

"I saw that on TV," Anna replies. "She called me, but she wasn't really able to talk. Said she'd be back in a week or two. Kinda feels like I keep finding people and losing them right when I discover what they mean to me."

It was hard, being reunited with the sister she never knew she had only to be separated once more, but Anna understands why Natasha is gone. Her sister is passionate about her work, and she would never want to stand in the way of Natasha's opportunity to do something right. From what her sister has told her, Natasha's history is murky at best, and she's eager for any opportunity to come out of the shadows.

"Do you..." Steve pauses, "Do you wanna talk about it? About...um...him?"

"No," Anna lets out a bitter laugh. "I'm done talking about things. I just...I can't. He's gone, and I'm here. I don't know if that will ever change. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't hold on to the past, but..."

"...it's easier said than done," he finishes, his blue eyes darkening at the thought. "Trust me, I understand."

She gives him a sad smile, "I suppose you do. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he encourages. "C'mon, let's see what you've got."

"You want me to fight you? A super soldier?" Anna asks.

Steve laughs, "Don't tell Tony, but your sister can kick my ass if she really wants to. Word on the street is you're almost as good as her. Almost."

Anna smiles, this one genuine, and she drops her water bottle on the bench. Walking toward the center of the mats, she takes a deep breath and prepares herself to face Steve.

"Alright then," she tells him. "Let's see if we can do better than 'almost'."

 


	58. Bonus Chapter #5: Sisterly Bonding

****"Knock, knock," Natasha's voice draws Anna's attention to the door of her bedroom in the Avengers Tower.

Anna smiles, "Come in."

"Thanks," Nat grins at her sister, sauntering into the room.

Standing, Anna gives her sister a warm hug. It's only been a few weeks since she found out that she even  _had_  a sister, but the connection is clear. She feels closer to Natasha than she ever did to her adoptive parents, even if they were wonderful to her. It's hard not to resent them. They saved her from a difficult life, sure, but they also stole her away from her only relative. They lied to her. That breach of trust is hard to get over.

"When did you get in?" She asks, motioning for Nat to take a seat on the bed.

Nat sits, curling her feet under her, as Anna does the same, "About an hour ago. Steve wanted to talk, had some leads about Bucky, but I told him this was more important. Luckily, I think even he knows better to get between a girl and her sister."

"How's that going?" Anna asks with a smile. "Bucky, I mean. I've only heard a bit about him from Tony. Apparently he was on Steve's team back in World War II, the Howling Commandos? I didn't know anyone else had received the Super Soldier serum with Steve."

Nat sighs, "They didn't. I mean, he didn't. He was captured by Hydra during the war. They experimented on him, did some pretty gruesome things."

"I saw the videos on the news," Anna replies. "A metal arm? Damn."

A distant look crosses Natasha's eyes, "Yeah."

"Nat?" The brunette asks, noticing her sister's cloudy look. "What's on your mind?"

She smiles, shaking it off, and shrugs, "Nothing."

"Yeah? It's like that, is it," Anna teases. "And here I thought we could talk about anything. I told you about Loki, about falling in love with the man responsible for countless deaths - including my fiance. I mean, the man tried to take over the planet."

"Okay, I get it," Natasha scoffs, stifling a laugh. She exhales, "You've heard him called the Winter Soldier, yeah?"

Anna nods, and the redhead continues, "Well, you've actually met him. A long time ago. He was one of our trainers in the Red Room."

"What? Really?" She asks.

"Yeah," Nat replies. "You were young though, and he was only there sporadically. Whenever he was there, he helped train the girls in combat. Probably taught you a few of those tricks you used on Steve in the practice room."

Blushing, Anna smiles. Her training sessions with Steve were quickly becoming notorious. After their first fight, Clint stopped by to see round two, and - obviously - Tony caught wind of it. Everyone wanted to watch the young woman hold her own against the Super Soldier. No weapons, no shield, just hand-to-hand combat. She lost the first few fights, miserably (although Steve insisted she did a great job), before tripping him up on the last one and sending him to his back. Tony was there for that one, and he's been talking about it for the last 48 hours straight.

"Probably shouldn't tell Steve that," Nat adds with wry smirk.

Anna nods, "So what happened then? With Bucky? I mean, the Winter Soldier."

"One day, he didn't come back," Natasha replies simply. "I assumed he was dead. It wasn't exactly uncommon at the time. Death was part of the job."

"So you didn't see him again until a few weeks ago?" Anna asks. "When he tried to kill you on the bridge?"

The redhead grimaces, unconsciously gripping her shoulder where the Winter Soldier shot her, and shakes her head.

"I saw him once before," she tells Anna. "Ironically, he tried to kill me that time too. Got the scar to prove it."

Anna smiles, elbowing her sister, "Sounds like we've got a rough family history with men."

"Don't remind me," Natasha groans. "Luckily, they make something for that. It's called vodka." 

 


	59. Bonus Chapter #6: Loki's Dreams // Prequel to All Hail the King

Loki tosses and turns on the small mattress in his tiny Asgardian cell. It's much more luxurious than anything afforded to the other prisoners, but it's still a far cry from the chambers he grew up in within the palace.

Sleep evades him most nights, and the few hours he manages to drift off are riddled with horrible nightmares. He is tormented by visions of Anna's torture at the hands of Restitution, Magnus' laughter while he applies the plasma torch to Loki's skin echoing in his ears, and he's forced to watch while the woman he loves is beaten and bruised within an inch of her life. He tries to save her, every time, but every time he fails. Every time she's ripped from him at the last moment, her lifeless body falling to the ground before his very eyes, until he's convinced that the recurring nightmare is a vision of the future.

Tonight the nightmares are different.

Tonight, it's he who is tormented and tortured. His broken body hangs from the chains, fire lapping at his skin until he cries out in pain, and a musical laugh hits his ears. One eye is swollen shut while his vision is distorted in the other from the crimson blood pouring down his forehead. He blinks, the darkness fading into focus, and a familiar face stands across from him.

It's her. It's Anna. Her lips are turned upward at the sight of him, her small hands grasping the handle of the plasma torch as she uses it to etch lines of agony into his pale skin. She laughs as he screams, clearly overjoyed to make his broken body her canvas, until tears begin to leak out of the corner of Loki's eyes. He's never allowed himself to cry, not since he fell from the Bifrost into the Void, but the pain is too much to bear. His mind forms silent words begging Anna to stop, urging her to remember him, but she cannot hear him. He cannot speak. Suddenly, his lips are sewn together once more.

Struggling against the chains that bind him, his emerald eyes blaze with fear and anger as he watches her deliver blow after blow to his bare skin. He cannot fight, he cannot free himself, and - eventually - he cannot even hold himself upright. His legs give way, and his body sags forward as he hangs from the chains. All of his weight born into his wrists and shoulders, his lungs struggle to expand as consciousness begins to slip away from him.

When he wakes, he discovers himself in the same place. The same darkness hangs around him like a heavy cloak, but this time he can see Anna's body - covered in blood - unconscious on the ground in front of him. He calls out to her, the thread binding his lips together ripping through his skin until he can taste blood, but she doesn't answer. She doesn't move. He can't even tell if she's breathing.

A new voice overlaps his own, a deep laugh rumbling through the darkness, and the memory causes him to flinch. He'd recognize that voice anywhere, and a tsunami of fear rushes over him.

"I see you've found yourself a pet," the voice tells him.

Loki bites back a growl, once again finding the strength to pull against the chains that bind him, as he seethes, "Don't touch her!"

The voice laughs, a cruel and wicked sound, as Anna's body is lifted from the ground by some invisible force. Her brown hair clings to her face, matted with blood, and she hangs in midair right before Loki's eyes. With a gasp, her blue eyes flicker open.

"Loki?" Anna asks, her voice cracking from the effort as she struggles to breathe. Her skin is pale from blood loss, her electric blue eyes a vivid contrast from the deep red blood caked across her features. "W-where am I? What's happening?"

He struggles against his bonds, every fiber in his being wishing that he could hold her, relieve her of her pain, take her away from this horrific place, "I'm sorry, my love. I'm so sorry."

"As you should be," the voice returns, causing Anna's eyes to grow wide with fear. "This is all your doing. You failed me, Loki, and now you've failed her."

Anna gasps as an unseen hand tightens around her throat, her body frozen and unable to fight back, as Loki bellows out of rage. Her blue eyes meet his, growing dull by the second, as he fights with every ounce of strength in his body to free himself and save her. Tears fall from the corner of her eyes, pain and regret etched over her bloodstained features, as she struggles to stay conscious without oxygen. Her eyelids flutter closed, and - after a few more moments - she falls to the ground, her body contorted in a grotesque and impossible fashion, and Loki howls in agony at the sight of her dead body.

His wrists finally break free of their bonds, and he falls forward onto the ground only to wake up in the bright white Asgardian prison cell.

It was a dream. It was all a dream.

Anna is alive, which means he hasn't failed her. Relief floods his body as he runs his hands through his thick black hair, swinging his legs off the side of the small cot, and inhales deeply. His wrists ache, and he looks down to see marks from the shackles in his dream still pressed against his skin, a dark trail of blood pouring from the fresh wounds. Frowning, his emerald eyes grow wide at the realization.

Thanos.

Thanos knows about Anna. 


End file.
